Climate Change Chart of Lilongwe, Malawi

Overview of climate changes

Temperature changes

Averaged across calendar months, monthly mean temperature shows a difference of +0.48 °C compared with the earlier reference period; this is an unweighted average of monthly means, not a day-weighted annual average or a measure of daytime maximum temperatures. The largest monthly increase was in December, with a difference of +0.80 °C. This identifies the strongest increase among the supplied monthly comparisons, rather than describing every month.

Changes in rainfall

Averaged across calendar months, mean daily rainfall had a difference of +0.15 mm/day in the more recent period. This unweighted average of monthly means describes daily rainfall amounts, not monthly totals, and does not imply that rainfall increased in every month. The largest monthly increase in mean daily rainfall occurred in February, with a difference of +1.09 mm/day. By contrast, March had the largest monthly decrease, a difference of -0.27 mm/day; these are month-specific differences, not changes in monthly totals.

Changes in sunshine duration

Averaged across calendar months, mean daily sunshine duration had a difference of +0.01 hours/day compared with the earlier reference period. This unweighted mean of monthly averages summarizes the calendar months collectively and does not establish the direction of change in each one. The largest monthly increase in mean daily sunshine duration was in February, with a difference of +0.30 hours/day. The largest monthly decrease was in January, a difference of -0.34 hours/day, showing that the month-specific changes were not uniform.