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Has the climate in Owatonna changed?

How Owatonna's climate has changed

About 0.1°F per decade, measured from Owatonna's official daily weather records, 1971–2020. Individual years still bounce around — some recent ones came in cool — but the long-term line has clearly risen.

Is that a lot? Owatonna's climate has warmed more slowly than most other cities in United States.

What has actually changed

Each card compares the 1970s (the first ten years of the record) with recent years (the last ten) — the same span the headline and the chart use.

Freezing nights
5 fewer nights
1970s
164 / yr
Recent
159 / yr
Milder winters — fewer frosts
Average temperature
about the same
1970s
45.4°F
Recent
45.1°F
Year-round temperature has barely moved
Hot days above 90°F
12 fewer days
1970s
20 / yr
Recent
8 / yr
Slightly fewer hot days
Rainy days
7 fewer days
1970s
114 / yr
Recent
107 / yr
Drier on average

Owatonna's temperature, year by year

Average temperature for each year from 1971 to 2020.

40°42°44°46°48°50°52°1971: 45.2°F1972: 42.9°F1973: 47.0°F1974: 45.1°F1975: 44.8°F1976: 45.7°F1977: 46.5°F1978: 43.6°F1979: 43.4°F1980: 46.3°F1981: 47.4°F1982: 44.6°F1983: 46.2°F1984: 45.8°F1985: 44.6°F1986: 46.6°F1987: 50.2°F1988: 46.9°F1989: 44.9°F1990: 48.5°F1991: 47.1°F1992: 46.0°F1993: 43.7°F1994: 46.3°F1995: 46.0°F1996: 41.0°F1997: 43.5°F1998: 49.8°F1999: 46.6°F2000: 45.3°F2001: 46.3°F2002: 45.8°F2003: 44.8°F2004: 44.9°F2005: 43.9°F2006: 47.3°F2007: 45.9°F2008: 42.9°F2009: 43.4°F2010: 45.1°F2011: 45.3°F2012: 49.1°F2013: 43.1°F2014: 42.1°F2015: 46.0°F2016: 47.9°F2017: 46.6°F2018: 44.2°F2019: 43.1°F2020: 46.0°Flong-term trend197119801990200020102020
a warmer-than-average year a cooler-than-average year

Each bar is one year. Most recent years sit above the older ones. Some recent years still came in cool — warming is a slope, not a straight climb.

In day-to-day terms, that long-term shift shows up as about 4 fewer freezing nights a year and about 8 fewer days above 90°F compared with the 1970s.

When in the year the change shows up

How much warmer each month is now than in the 1970s. Useful if you garden or care about a particular season — otherwise the headline above already has the answer.

-2.5°-2.0°-1.5°-1.0°-0.5°0.0°+0.5°+1.0°+1.5°+2.0°January: +0.4°F+0.4JFebruary: -2.2°F-2.2FMarch: -1.4°F-1.4MApril: -1.7°F-1.7AMay: -2.3°F-2.3MJune: -0.8°F-0.8JJuly: -1.3°F-1.3JAugust: -1.2°F-1.2ASeptember: +0.2°F+0.2SOctober: -1.4°F-1.4ONovember: +0.5°F+0.5NDecember: +1.6°F+1.6D

May has cooled the most — about 2.3°F. The warming runs across the whole year, not just one season.

Methodology & sources

Temperature — the official 1991–2020 climate normals from NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals, measured at Owatonna (NOAA GHCN station USC00216287), about 2 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →