Climate Change Chart of Essaouira, Morocco

Overview of climate changes

Temperature changes

Averaged across calendar months, monthly mean temperature shows a difference of -0.04 °C compared with the earlier reference period; this is an unweighted comparison of monthly means, not a measure of daytime highs or a continuous trend. The largest monthly increase was in October, at a difference of +0.81 °C, while the largest monthly decrease was in July, at a difference of -0.52 °C. These month-specific contrasts show why the small overall mean difference does not describe every month.

Changes in rainfall

Mean daily rainfall, rather than monthly rainfall totals, averaged across calendar months, had a difference of -0.07 mm/day in the more recent period. The largest monthly increase occurred in March, with a difference of +0.39 mm/day, whereas the largest monthly decrease was in January, with a difference of -0.52 mm/day. These are changes in monthly mean daily amounts; the overall mean summarizes the calendar-month means and does not imply that rainfall shifted in the same direction in every month.

Changes in sunshine duration

Mean daily sunshine duration averaged across calendar months had a difference of -0.20 hours/day compared with the earlier reference period. The largest monthly decrease was in March, at a difference of -0.32 hours/day. The mean describes an unweighted summary of monthly sunshine averages, not a day-weighted annual total, and neither it nor the monthly extreme establishes a continuous change between the two reference periods.