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Has the climate in Salisbury changed?

Salisbury has warmed about 2°F between 1971 and 2011.

About 0.5°F per decade, measured from Salisbury's official daily weather records, 1971–2011. Individual years still bounce around — some recent ones came in cool — but the long-term line has clearly risen.

Is that a lot? Salisbury's warming is broadly in line with other cities in United States — neither unusually fast nor unusually slow.

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
7 fewer nights
1970s
78 / yr
Recent
71 / yr
Milder winters — fewer frosts
Average temperature
+1.5°F
1970s
57.2°F
Recent
58.6°F
A steady upward drift
Hot days above 90°F
11 more days
1970s
20 / yr
Recent
31 / yr
More days of serious heat
Rainy days
about the same
1970s
120 / yr
Recent
120 / yr
Rainfall pattern about the same

Salisbury's temperature, year by year

Average temperature for each year from 1971 to 2011.

51°53°55°57°59°61°1971: 57.9°F1972: 57.0°F1973: 58.8°F1974: 58.5°F1975: 58.8°F1976: 56.6°F1977: 57.1°F1978: 55.5°F1979: 56.3°F1980: 55.9°F1981: 56.1°F1982: 57.2°F1983: 57.5°F1984: 57.4°F1985: 58.1°F1986: 58.2°F1987: 57.9°F1988: 56.9°F1989: 52.7°F1990: 59.6°F1991: 60.0°F1992: 54.5°F1993: 58.2°F1994: 58.3°F1995: 57.4°F1996: 57.0°F1997: 57.7°F1998: 59.9°F1999: 59.3°F2000: 56.0°F2001: 56.4°F2002: 60.0°F2003: 58.0°F2004: 58.6°F2005: 58.3°F2006: 60.1°F2007: 59.7°F2008: 58.7°F2009: 58.3°F2010: 59.1°F2011: 59.7°Flong-term trend197119801990200020102011
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 5 fewer freezing nights a year and about 6 more 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.

0.0°+0.5°+1.0°+1.5°+2.0°January: +1.2°F+1.2JFebruary: +1.1°F+1.1FMarch: +0.3°F+0.3MApril: +1.6°F+1.6AMay: +1.3°F+1.3MJune: +1.6°F+1.6JJuly: +1.5°F+1.5JAugust: +0.9°F+0.9ASeptember: +1.2°F+1.2SOctober: +1.4°F+1.4ONovember: +0.2°F+0.2NDecember: +1.2°F+1.2D

June has warmed the most — about 1.7°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 Salisbury (NOAA GHCN station USC00188000), about 1 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →