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Has the climate in Valdez changed?

How Valdez's climate has changed

About 0.1°F per decade, measured from Valdez's official daily weather records, 1976–2013. Individual years still bounce around — some recent ones came in cool — but the long-term line has clearly risen.

Is that a lot? Valdez'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
3 more nights
1970s
176 / yr
Recent
179 / yr
Colder winters — more frosts
Average temperature
+0.3°F
1970s
38.7°F
Recent
39.0°F
A steady upward drift
Hot days above 90°F
about the same
1970s
0 / yr
Recent
0 / yr
About the same number of heat days
Rainy days
9 fewer days
1970s
202 / yr
Recent
193 / yr
Drier on average

Valdez's temperature, year by year

Average temperature for each year from 1976 to 2013.

35°37°39°41°1976: 38.2°F1977: 38.9°F1978: 39.4°F1979: 38.7°F1980: 38.2°F1981: 39.8°F1982: 36.9°F1983: 38.6°F1984: 39.4°F1985: 37.0°F1986: 39.0°F1987: 39.9°F1988: 39.2°F1989: 38.4°F1990: 37.9°F1991: 39.5°F1992: 38.5°F1993: 40.7°F1994: 38.6°F1995: 39.4°F1996: 38.1°F1997: 40.9°F1998: 39.6°F1999: 38.1°F2000: 39.9°F2001: 39.0°F2002: 40.4°F2003: 40.6°F2004: 40.2°F2005: 40.5°F2006: 37.7°F2007: 38.4°F2008: 36.8°F2009: 38.7°F2010: 39.4°F2011: 38.5°F2012: 37.2°F2013: 39.4°Flong-term trend197619801990200020102013
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 10 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.

-1.0°-0.5°0.0°+0.5°+1.0°+1.5°+2.0°January: +0.4°F+0.4JFebruary: +1.3°F+1.3FMarch: -0.6°F-0.6MApril: +1.4°F+1.4AMay: +1.6°F+1.6MJune: +1.7°F+1.7JJuly: +1.2°F+1.2JAugust: +0.7°F+0.7ASeptember: +1.1°F+1.1SOctober: +1.3°F+1.3ONovember: +1.2°F+1.2NDecember: +1.4°F+1.4D

June has warmed the most — about 1.7°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 Valdez Wso (NOAA GHCN station USW00026442), inside the city.

How we build these numbers →