Climate Change Chart of Castries, Saint Lucia

Overview of climate changes

Changes in rainfall

Averaged across calendar months, mean daily rainfall had a difference of -0.54 mm/day. This unweighted mean of monthly means describes an overall monthly-average comparison, not a day-weighted annual total; the values are daily means rather than monthly rainfall totals. The monthly pattern was not uniform: March recorded the largest increase, a difference of +0.35 mm/day, while August had the largest decrease, a difference of -1.60 mm/day. These extrema describe differences in mean daily rainfall for those months, not daily variability or changes applying throughout the year.

Temperature changes

Averaged across calendar months, monthly mean temperature shows a difference of +1.03 °C; this is an unweighted mean of the monthly means, not a day-weighted annual average or a measure of daytime maximum temperatures. The largest monthly increase in the more recent period was in September, with a difference of +1.58 °C. This identifies the strongest increase among the monthly means, not a change shared by every month.

Changes in sunshine duration

Mean daily sunshine duration, averaged across calendar months, shows a difference of +0.08 hours/day. This is an unweighted average of monthly means, rather than a day-weighted annual figure, and does not imply the same difference in every month. The largest monthly increase was in June, at a difference of +0.42 hours/day; by contrast, October had the largest decrease, with a difference of -0.31 hours/day. These monthly comparisons concern mean daily sunshine hours, not the amount of sunshine on every individual day.