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Has the climate in Ruston changed?

Ruston has warmed about 2.3°F between 1971 and 2019.

About 0.5°F per decade, measured from Ruston's official daily weather records, 1971–2019. Individual years still bounce around — some recent ones came in cool — but the long-term line has clearly risen.

Is that a lot? Ruston'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
10 fewer nights
1970s
50 / yr
Recent
40 / yr
Milder winters — fewer frosts
Average temperature
+1.2°F
1970s
64.1°F
Recent
65.3°F
A steady upward drift
Hot days above 90°F
3 fewer days
1970s
82 / yr
Recent
79 / yr
Slightly fewer hot days
Rainy days
about the same
1970s
102 / yr
Recent
101 / yr
Rainfall pattern about the same

Ruston's temperature, year by year

Average temperature for each year from 1971 to 2019.

61°63°65°67°69°71°1971: 63.6°F1972: 63.8°F1973: 64.4°F1974: 64.2°F1975: 63.8°F1976: 62.9°F1977: 65.9°F1978: 63.7°F1979: 62.9°F1980: 64.8°F1981: 64.5°F1982: 65.3°F1983: 62.4°F1984: 64.4°F1985: 63.6°F1986: 65.0°F1987: 63.9°F1988: 64.0°F1989: 62.3°F1990: 65.3°F1991: 64.1°F1992: 63.5°F1993: 63.4°F1994: 64.3°F1995: 64.4°F1996: 63.5°F1997: 65.1°F1998: 66.6°F1999: 65.2°F2000: 64.3°F2001: 64.5°F2002: 64.2°F2003: 63.8°F2004: 64.0°F2005: 65.1°F2006: 63.6°F2007: 62.8°F2008: 64.0°F2009: 62.7°F2010: 63.7°F2011: 64.5°F2012: 66.8°F2013: 70.4°F2014: 66.7°F2016: 66.5°F2017: 66.8°F2018: 67.5°F2019: 65.7°Flong-term trend197119801990200020102019
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 8 fewer freezing nights a year and about 6 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°January: +1.6°F+1.6JFebruary: +1.0°F+1.0FMarch: +0.7°F+0.7MApril: +0.6°F+0.6AMay: +0.6°F+0.6MJune: +0.6°F+0.6JJuly: +0.3°F+0.3JAugust: +0.6°F+0.6ASeptember: +1.0°F+1.0SOctober: +0.7°F+0.7ONovember: +0.4°F+0.4NDecember: +1.0°F+1.0D

January has warmed the most — about 1.6°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 Ruston LA Tech (NOAA GHCN station USC00168067), about 2 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →