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Has the climate in Harrisonburg changed?

How Harrisonburg's climate has changed

About 0.0°F per decade, measured from Harrisonburg'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? Harrisonburg's climate has warmed more slowly 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
9 more nights
1970s
111 / yr
Recent
120 / yr
Colder winters — more frosts
Average temperature
about the same
1970s
53.8°F
Recent
53.8°F
Year-round temperature has barely moved
Hot days above 90°F
2 fewer days
1970s
21 / yr
Recent
19 / yr
Slightly fewer hot days
Rainy days
6 more days
1970s
119 / yr
Recent
125 / yr
Wetter on average

Harrisonburg's temperature, year by year

Average temperature for each year from 1971 to 2025.

49°51°53°55°57°1971: 54.9°F1973: 55.4°F1974: 52.9°F1975: 53.5°F1976: 53.1°F1977: 54.2°F1978: 51.9°F1979: 52.5°F1980: 53.5°F1981: 52.6°F1982: 53.7°F1983: 55.2°F1984: 54.4°F1985: 54.6°F1986: 55.1°F1987: 54.3°F1988: 53.1°F1989: 53.2°F1990: 56.8°F1991: 56.6°F1992: 53.8°F1993: 54.0°F1994: 52.5°F1995: 52.1°F1996: 50.7°F1997: 51.7°F1998: 55.0°F1999: 53.7°F2000: 51.9°F2001: 52.9°F2002: 53.8°F2003: 51.7°F2004: 52.6°F2005: 52.5°F2006: 53.4°F2007: 52.1°F2008: 52.5°F2009: 51.6°F2010: 52.7°F2011: 53.9°F2012: 55.0°F2013: 52.5°F2014: 51.5°F2015: 53.6°F2016: 54.4°F2017: 53.7°F2018: 53.8°F2019: 55.1°F2020: 55.4°F2021: 54.7°F2022: 52.8°F2023: 54.7°F2024: 56.2°F2025: 53.7°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 9 more freezing nights a year 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.

-1.5°-1.0°-0.5°0.0°+0.5°+1.0°+1.5°January: +0.4°F+0.4JFebruary: -0.5°F-0.5FMarch: -1.4°F-1.4MApril: -0.3°F-0.3AMay: +0.4°F+0.4MJune: +0.9°F+0.9JJuly: +1.0°F+1.0JAugust: +1.1°F+1.1ASeptember: +0.8°F+0.8SOctober: +0.6°F+0.6ONovember: -0.5°F-0.5NDecember: +0.3°F+0.3D

March has cooled 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 Dale Enterprise (NOAA GHCN station USC00442208), about 6 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →