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Has the climate in Gatlinburg changed?

Gatlinburg has warmed about 2.5°F since 1971.

About 0.4°F per decade, measured from Gatlinburg'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? Gatlinburg'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
11 fewer nights
1970s
74 / yr
Recent
63 / yr
Milder winters — fewer frosts
Average temperature
+1.7°F
1970s
58.7°F
Recent
60.4°F
A steady upward drift
Hot days above 90°F
11 more days
1970s
30 / yr
Recent
41 / yr
More days of serious heat
Rainy days
3 more days
1970s
126 / yr
Recent
129 / yr
Wetter on average

Gatlinburg's temperature, year by year

Average temperature for each year from 1971 to 2025.

56°58°60°62°1971: 59.3°F1972: 58.2°F1973: 59.3°F1974: 60.2°F1975: 59.6°F1976: 57.1°F1977: 59.6°F1978: 58.6°F1979: 58.4°F1980: 59.1°F1981: 58.7°F1982: 59.1°F1983: 57.8°F1984: 58.1°F1985: 57.5°F1986: 59.6°F1987: 58.8°F1988: 57.7°F1989: 58.1°F1990: 61.0°F1991: 60.5°F1992: 58.2°F1993: 59.0°F1994: 59.0°F1995: 59.0°F1996: 57.4°F1997: 58.1°F1998: 61.2°F1999: 59.9°F2000: 58.8°F2001: 59.5°F2002: 60.3°F2003: 58.6°F2004: 59.7°F2005: 59.7°F2006: 60.1°F2007: 61.3°F2008: 58.9°F2009: 58.6°F2010: 59.2°F2011: 60.9°F2012: 61.5°F2013: 58.8°F2014: 58.1°F2015: 60.5°F2016: 61.9°F2017: 61.2°F2018: 60.3°F2019: 61.6°F2020: 60.8°F2021: 60.4°F2022: 60.1°F2023: 61.3°F2024: 61.7°F2025: 60.7°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 5 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.

-0.5°0.0°+0.5°+1.0°+1.5°January: +1.2°F+1.2JFebruary: +0.8°F+0.8FMarch: +0.4°F+0.4MApril: +1.2°F+1.2AMay: +1.3°F+1.3MJune: +1.0°F+1.0JJuly: +0.4°F+0.4JAugust: +0.3°F+0.3ASeptember: +0.7°F+0.7SOctober: +1.1°F+1.1ONovember: -0.3°F-0.3NDecember: +0.8°F+0.8D

May has warmed the most — about 1.3°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 Knoxville AP (NOAA GHCN station USW00013891), about 44 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →