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Has the climate in Palm Springs changed?

Palm Springs has warmed about 3°F between 1971 and 2013.

About 0.8°F per decade, measured from Palm Springs's official daily weather records, 1971–2013. Individual years still bounce around — some recent ones came in cool — but the long-term line has clearly risen.

Is that a lot? Palm Springs'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
4 fewer nights
1970s
4 / yr
Recent
0 / yr
Milder winters — fewer frosts
Average temperature
+2.3°F
1970s
73.1°F
Recent
75.4°F
A steady upward drift
Hot days above 90°F
122 fewer days
1970s
177 / yr
Recent
55 / yr
Slightly fewer hot days
Rainy days
6 fewer days
1970s
21 / yr
Recent
15 / yr
Drier on average

Palm Springs's temperature, year by year

Average temperature for each year from 1971 to 2013.

70°72°74°76°78°1971: 71.9°F1972: 73.1°F1973: 72.3°F1974: 73.8°F1975: 73.0°F1976: 72.8°F1977: 73.5°F1978: 72.3°F1979: 72.8°F1980: 74.2°F1981: 75.7°F1982: 71.9°F1983: 72.5°F1985: 73.1°F1986: 75.1°F1987: 73.3°F1988: 74.3°F1989: 75.4°F1990: 74.0°F1991: 73.8°F1992: 73.5°F1993: 73.8°F1994: 74.3°F1995: 75.1°F1996: 76.1°F1997: 75.6°F1998: 73.1°F1999: 74.4°F2000: 75.5°F2001: 76.1°F2002: 76.3°F2003: 76.4°F2004: 75.2°F2005: 75.3°F2006: 76.2°F2007: 75.0°F2008: 75.3°F2009: 74.8°F2010: 74.2°F2013: 75.2°Flong-term trend197119801990200020102013
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 45 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: +1.7°F+1.7JFebruary: +0.3°F+0.3FMarch: +1.9°F+1.9MApril: +1.4°F+1.4AMay: +1.0°F+1.0MJune: +0.9°F+0.9JJuly: +1.3°F+1.3JAugust: +1.8°F+1.8ASeptember: +1.9°F+1.9SOctober: +1.6°F+1.6ONovember: +2.1°F+2.1NDecember: +0.2°F+0.2D

November has warmed the most — about 2.2°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 Palm Springs (NOAA GHCN station USC00046635), about 3 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →