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Has the climate in Zion changed?

Zion has warmed about 2.3°F since 2000.

About 0.9°F per decade, measured from Zion's official daily weather records, 2000–2025. Individual years still bounce around — some recent ones came in cool — but the long-term line has clearly risen.

Is that a lot? Zion'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
about the same
1970s
130 / yr
Recent
130 / yr
Winters about as cold as before
Average temperature
+1.3°F
1970s
48.5°F
Recent
49.8°F
A steady upward drift
Hot days above 90°F
3 more days
1970s
9 / yr
Recent
12 / yr
More days of serious heat
Rainy days
14 fewer days
1970s
135 / yr
Recent
121 / yr
Drier on average

Zion's temperature, year by year

Average temperature for each year from 2000 to 2025.

43°45°47°49°51°53°2000: 48.3°F2001: 49.2°F2002: 48.8°F2003: 46.7°F2004: 47.6°F2005: 49.1°F2006: 49.5°F2007: 48.8°F2008: 46.4°F2009: 46.4°F2010: 49.5°F2011: 48.1°F2012: 51.5°F2013: 46.4°F2014: 44.5°F2015: 47.5°F2016: 50.1°F2017: 49.4°F2018: 48.0°F2019: 47.4°F2020: 49.9°F2021: 50.9°F2022: 48.7°F2023: 51.4°F2024: 52.3°F2025: 49.8°Flong-term trend2000201020202025
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 43 more freezing nights a year and about 8 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.

-6.5°-6.0°-5.5°-5.0°-4.5°-4.0°-3.5°-3.0°-2.5°-2.0°-1.5°-1.0°-0.5°0.0°+0.5°+1.0°+1.5°+2.0°+2.5°+3.0°+3.5°+4.0°+4.5°+5.0°+5.5°+6.0°+6.5°January: -0.7°F-0.7JFebruary: -5.9°F-5.9FMarch: -6.4°F-6.4MApril: +0.9°F+0.9AMay: -2.8°F-2.8MJune: +0.6°F+0.6JJuly: +3.2°F+3.2JAugust: +0.3°F+0.3ASeptember: +1.1°F+1.1SOctober: -1.2°F-1.2ONovember: -1.1°F-1.1NDecember: +6.1°F+6.1D

March has cooled the most — about 6.4°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 Chicago Waukegan Rgnl AP (NOAA GHCN station USW00014880), about 3 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →