Climate Change Chart of Durban, South Africa

Overview of climate changes

Temperature changes

Averaged across calendar months, monthly mean temperature shows a difference of +0.36 °C compared with the earlier reference period; this is an unweighted mean of monthly averages, not a day-weighted annual average or a measure of daytime maximum temperatures. The largest monthly increase was in January, with a difference of +0.81 °C. By contrast, April had the largest monthly decrease, a difference of -0.03 °C.

Changes in rainfall

Averaged across calendar months, mean daily rainfall had a difference of -0.45 mm/day in the more recent period. This unweighted summary of monthly averages describes daily mean amounts, not monthly rainfall totals, and does not mean that every month was drier. The largest monthly decrease was in February, where mean daily rainfall had a difference of -2.60 mm/day. In May, the largest monthly increase was a difference of +1.01 mm/day, showing that the overall mean does not describe each month's direction.

Changes in sunshine duration

Mean daily sunshine duration averaged across calendar months had a difference of -0.03 hours/day compared with the earlier period. This unweighted summary of monthly means is not a day-weighted annual average and does not imply the same change in every month. The largest monthly increase occurred in January, with a difference of +0.41 hours/day hours per day, while December recorded the largest monthly decrease, a difference of -0.64 hours/day hours per day.