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Has the climate in Asheville changed?

Asheville has warmed about 2.6°F since 1971.

About 0.5°F per decade, measured from Asheville's official daily weather records, 1971–2025. Individual years still bounce around — some recent ones came in cool — but the long-term line has clearly risen.

Is that a lot? Asheville'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
14 fewer nights
1970s
83 / yr
Recent
69 / yr
Milder winters — fewer frosts
Average temperature
+1.8°F
1970s
56.4°F
Recent
58.2°F
A steady upward drift
Hot days above 90°F
8 more days
1970s
11 / yr
Recent
19 / yr
More days of serious heat
Rainy days
11 more days
1970s
121 / yr
Recent
132 / yr
Wetter on average

Asheville's temperature, year by year

Average temperature for each year from 1971 to 2025.

53°55°57°59°61°1971: 57.6°F1972: 56.7°F1973: 57.6°F1974: 57.7°F1975: 57.9°F1976: 55.6°F1977: 56.6°F1978: 56.3°F1979: 55.3°F1980: 55.4°F1981: 54.7°F1982: 56.8°F1983: 54.9°F1984: 56.2°F1985: 56.4°F1986: 57.7°F1987: 56.5°F1988: 55.2°F1989: 55.5°F1990: 58.5°F1991: 57.7°F1992: 55.7°F1993: 56.3°F1994: 56.5°F1995: 55.8°F1996: 54.7°F1997: 55.4°F1998: 58.6°F1999: 57.3°F2000: 55.7°F2001: 56.6°F2002: 57.4°F2003: 56.1°F2004: 57.3°F2005: 57.1°F2006: 57.5°F2007: 57.9°F2008: 56.7°F2009: 56.5°F2010: 56.2°F2011: 58.3°F2012: 59.1°F2013: 56.6°F2014: 56.5°F2015: 59.4°F2016: 59.6°F2017: 59.6°F2018: 58.0°F2019: 59.1°F2020: 58.4°F2021: 58.3°F2022: 58.0°F2023: 59.1°F2024: 59.6°F2025: 58.4°Flong-term trend1971198019902000201020202025
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 4 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°January: +1.1°F+1.1JFebruary: +1.2°F+1.2FMarch: +0.4°F+0.4MApril: +1.4°F+1.4AMay: +1.4°F+1.4MJune: +1.3°F+1.3JJuly: +0.7°F+0.7JAugust: +0.9°F+0.9ASeptember: +1.1°F+1.1SOctober: +1.1°F+1.1ONovember: +0.0°F+0.0NDecember: +0.8°F+0.8D

April has warmed the most — about 1.4°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 Asheville (NOAA GHCN station USW00013872), inside the city.

How we build these numbers →