Climate Change Chart of Punta Arenas, Chile

Overview of climate changes

Temperature changes

Averaged across calendar months, monthly mean temperature shows a difference of +0.37 °C compared with the earlier reference period; this is an unweighted comparison of monthly means, not a day-weighted annual average or a measure of daytime maximum temperatures. The largest monthly increase was in June, at a difference of +1.18 °C. By contrast, the largest monthly decrease was shared by September / December, with a difference of -0.05 °C; these are selected month-specific comparisons, not evidence of a continuous change between the reference periods.

Changes in snowfall

Mean daily snowfall averaged across calendar months had a difference of +1.62 mm/day compared with the earlier reference period. This is an unweighted average of monthly means, not a day-weighted annual average, and it does not mean that every month had the same change. The largest monthly increase in mean daily snowfall was in August, at a difference of +4.87 mm/day. This daily-mean comparison is not a monthly snowfall total and describes a difference between reference periods rather than a continuous trend.

Changes in rainfall

Mean daily rainfall, rather than monthly rainfall totals, had an unweighted average difference across calendar months of +0.19 mm/day compared with the earlier reference period. This aggregate does not imply that rainfall increased in every month. The largest monthly increase was in April, with a difference of +0.75 mm/day, while October had the largest monthly decrease, a difference of -0.31 mm/day. These month-specific daily-mean differences show that the overall average does not describe every month's change.

Changes in sunshine duration

Mean daily sunshine duration averaged across calendar months had a difference of -0.76 hours/day in the more recent period. This unweighted comparison of monthly means summarizes the metric across months rather than indicating the same change in each month. The largest monthly decrease was in February, with a difference of -1.12 hours/day in mean daily sunshine duration. This identifies the strongest decrease among the supplied monthly differences, not a continuous trend.