Akita has warmed about 2.9°F between 1971 and 2020.
About 0.6°F per decade, measured from Akita'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? Akita's warming is broadly in line with other cities in Japan — 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
53 fewer nights
1970s
104 / yr
→
Recent
51 / yr
Milder winters — fewer frosts
Average temperature
+2.1°F
1970s
52.0°F
→
Recent
54.1°F
A steady upward drift
Hot days above 90°F
4 more days
1970s
6 / yr
→
Recent
10 / yr
More days of serious heat
Rainy days
11 fewer days
1970s
196 / yr
→
Recent
185 / yr
Drier on average
Akita's temperature, year by year
Average temperature for each year from 1971 to 2020.
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 32 fewer freezing nights a year compared with the 1970s.
Methodology & sources
Temperature — the official 1991–2020 climate normals from the Japan Meteorological Agency, measured at Akita, about 2 km from the city centre.