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Has the climate in Paducah changed?

Paducah has warmed about 2.6°F since 1971.

About 0.5°F per decade, measured from Paducah'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? Paducah'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
8 fewer nights
1970s
87 / yr
Recent
79 / yr
Milder winters — fewer frosts
Average temperature
+1.7°F
1970s
57.5°F
Recent
59.1°F
A steady upward drift
Hot days above 90°F
11 more days
1970s
43 / yr
Recent
54 / yr
More days of serious heat
Rainy days
5 more days
1970s
110 / yr
Recent
115 / yr
Wetter on average

Paducah's temperature, year by year

Average temperature for each year from 1971 to 2025.

54°56°58°60°62°1971: 57.7°F1972: 57.0°F1973: 58.8°F1974: 57.8°F1975: 57.9°F1976: 56.4°F1977: 58.1°F1978: 56.1°F1979: 55.9°F1980: 57.9°F1981: 57.5°F1982: 57.4°F1983: 57.3°F1984: 57.5°F1985: 56.4°F1986: 58.7°F1987: 59.2°F1988: 57.3°F1989: 56.7°F1990: 59.5°F1991: 60.0°F1992: 58.3°F1993: 57.8°F1994: 57.9°F1995: 57.9°F1996: 56.0°F1997: 56.0°F1998: 60.2°F1999: 59.2°F2000: 57.6°F2001: 58.5°F2002: 58.9°F2003: 57.1°F2004: 58.0°F2005: 58.8°F2006: 58.8°F2007: 59.6°F2008: 57.2°F2009: 57.7°F2010: 58.3°F2011: 58.7°F2012: 61.0°F2013: 56.9°F2014: 57.0°F2015: 58.9°F2016: 60.3°F2017: 60.4°F2018: 59.1°F2019: 59.2°F2020: 59.4°F2021: 59.7°F2022: 58.8°F2023: 60.8°F2024: 61.7°F2025: 59.5°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 3 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.

0.0°+0.5°+1.0°+1.5°+2.0°+2.5°January: +2.5°F+2.5JFebruary: +1.5°F+1.5FMarch: +0.8°F+0.8MApril: +1.3°F+1.3AMay: +1.6°F+1.6MJune: +0.9°F+0.9JJuly: +0.5°F+0.5JAugust: +1.0°F+1.0ASeptember: +0.9°F+0.9SOctober: +0.8°F+0.8ONovember: +0.2°F+0.2NDecember: +1.8°F+1.8D

January has warmed the most — about 2.5°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 Paducah (NOAA GHCN station USW00003816), about 15 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →