Climate Change Chart of Cockburn Town, Turks and Caicos Islands

Overview of climate changes

Temperature changes

Monthly mean temperature was higher by an average difference of +0.81 °C across calendar months in the more recent period. This is an unweighted mean of the monthly means, not a day-weighted annual average, and it describes average conditions rather than daytime maximum temperatures. The largest monthly increase was in February, with a difference of +0.97 °C compared with the earlier reference period; this identifies the strongest increase among the reported monthly changes, not a continuous trend.

Changes in rainfall

Averaged across calendar months, mean daily rainfall had a difference of -0.09 mm/day in the more recent period. This is an unweighted mean of monthly means, not an annual total, and it does not imply that rainfall fell in every month. The largest monthly increase in mean daily rainfall occurred in September, at a difference of +0.84 mm/day. By contrast, October had the largest monthly decrease, with a difference of -1.28 mm/day. These are daily mean amounts rather than monthly rainfall totals.

Changes in sunshine duration

Mean daily sunshine duration averaged across calendar months had a difference of -0.15 hours/day compared with the earlier reference period. This is an unweighted mean of monthly means, not a day-weighted annual average, and it does not establish the direction of change in every month. The largest monthly decrease was in May, with a difference of -0.30 hours/day; June recorded the largest monthly increase, at a difference of +0.04 hours/day. These monthly contrasts sit alongside the overall mean difference and describe average daily sunshine hours, not every day's conditions.