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Has the climate in Grand Island changed?

Grand Island has warmed about 2.9°F since 1971.

About 0.5°F per decade, measured from Grand Island'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? Grand Island'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
3 fewer nights
1970s
145 / yr
Recent
142 / yr
Milder winters — fewer frosts
Average temperature
+1.7°F
1970s
50.3°F
Recent
52.0°F
A steady upward drift
Hot days above 90°F
2 fewer days
1970s
40 / yr
Recent
38 / yr
Slightly fewer hot days
Rainy days
about the same
1970s
89 / yr
Recent
91 / yr
Rainfall pattern about the same

Grand Island's temperature, year by year

Average temperature for each year from 1971 to 2025.

46°48°50°52°54°56°1971: 50.7°F1972: 49.1°F1973: 50.3°F1974: 50.9°F1975: 49.1°F1976: 51.0°F1977: 52.1°F1978: 47.8°F1979: 47.8°F1980: 51.1°F1981: 51.6°F1982: 47.9°F1983: 49.7°F1984: 50.6°F1985: 49.0°F1986: 52.6°F1987: 52.7°F1988: 51.4°F1989: 50.0°F1990: 52.2°F1991: 52.2°F1992: 50.6°F1993: 47.8°F1994: 50.2°F1995: 50.1°F1996: 47.9°F1997: 50.2°F1998: 52.7°F1999: 52.2°F2000: 51.3°F2001: 52.0°F2002: 51.8°F2003: 51.1°F2004: 50.7°F2005: 52.4°F2006: 53.4°F2007: 52.1°F2008: 49.6°F2009: 49.3°F2010: 50.9°F2011: 50.5°F2012: 55.1°F2013: 51.0°F2014: 50.5°F2015: 52.5°F2016: 53.5°F2017: 52.4°F2018: 50.5°F2019: 50.2°F2020: 53.0°F2021: 53.6°F2022: 52.6°F2023: 53.5°F2024: 53.7°F2025: 52.7°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 2 fewer freezing nights a year and about 2 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°+3.0°January: +3.0°F+3.0JFebruary: +1.0°F+1.0FMarch: +2.0°F+2.0MApril: +0.7°F+0.7AMay: +1.0°F+1.0MJune: +1.3°F+1.3JJuly: +0.8°F+0.8JAugust: +0.6°F+0.6ASeptember: +1.7°F+1.7SOctober: +0.7°F+0.7ONovember: +2.7°F+2.7NDecember: +2.7°F+2.7D

January has warmed the most — about 3.0°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 Grand IS Cntrl NE Rgnl AP (NOAA GHCN station USW00014935), about 5 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →