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Has the climate in Cathedral City changed?

Cathedral City has warmed about 4°F since 1971.

About 0.9°F per decade, measured from Cathedral City'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? Cathedral City's climate has warmed faster 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
10 fewer nights
1970s
10 / yr
Recent
0 / yr
Milder winters — fewer frosts
Average temperature
+3.6°F
1970s
73.7°F
Recent
77.3°F
A steady upward drift
Hot days above 90°F
1 more day
1970s
179 / yr
Recent
180 / yr
More days of serious heat
Rainy days
about the same
1970s
16 / yr
Recent
15 / yr
Rainfall pattern about the same

Cathedral City's temperature, year by year

Average temperature for each year from 1971 to 2025.

71°73°75°77°79°1971: 72.3°F1972: 73.5°F1973: 73.2°F1974: 73.7°F1975: 72.1°F1976: 72.9°F1977: 73.6°F1978: 73.2°F1979: 73.1°F1980: 73.7°F1981: 75.2°F1986: 75.8°F1988: 74.7°F1989: 74.8°F1990: 73.5°F1991: 72.0°F1992: 77.0°F1993: 74.1°F1994: 75.4°F1995: 76.4°F1996: 77.1°F1999: 74.6°F2000: 77.5°F2001: 77.3°F2002: 77.8°F2003: 77.4°F2004: 77.9°F2010: 77.8°F2011: 73.5°F2012: 76.3°F2013: 76.6°F2014: 78.1°F2015: 77.4°F2016: 77.7°F2017: 78.2°F2018: 77.7°F2019: 75.4°F2020: 77.6°F2021: 77.6°F2022: 77.6°F2023: 76.4°F2024: 77.8°F2025: 78.4°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 6 fewer freezing nights a year and about 11 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.

0.0°+0.5°+1.0°+1.5°+2.0°+2.5°January: +2.4°F+2.4JFebruary: +1.1°F+1.1FMarch: +2.4°F+2.4MApril: +1.7°F+1.7AMay: +2.1°F+2.1MJune: +1.1°F+1.1JJuly: +1.5°F+1.5JAugust: +1.9°F+1.9ASeptember: +2.3°F+2.3SOctober: +1.4°F+1.4ONovember: +1.9°F+1.9NDecember: +0.8°F+0.8D

January has warmed the most — about 2.4°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 Indio Fire Stn (NOAA GHCN station USC00044259), about 24 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →