Climate Change Chart of Sa Pa, Viet Nam

Overview of climate changes

Temperature changes

Averaged across calendar months, monthly mean temperature shows a difference of +0.89 °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 highs. The overall difference also conceals contrasting monthly shifts: April had the largest increase, a difference of +1.99 °C, while July had the largest decrease, a difference of -0.76 °C. These monthly comparisons describe averages for those months, not every individual day.

Changes in rainfall

Mean daily rainfall averaged across calendar months shows a difference of -0.05 mm/day; this unweighted comparison of monthly means is not a change in annual rainfall totals. Monthly shifts went in different directions: July recorded the largest increase, a difference of +2.77 mm/day, whereas December recorded the largest decrease, a difference of -2.38 mm/day. These are differences in mean daily amounts for the named months, not monthly accumulation totals, and do not imply that rainfall changed by the same amount on every day.

Changes in sunshine duration

Mean daily sunshine duration averaged across calendar months shows a difference of -0.25 hours/day compared with the earlier period, based on an unweighted average of monthly means. The monthly pattern was not uniform: July had the largest decrease, a difference of -1.54 hours/day, while November had the largest increase, a difference of +0.39 hours/day. These figures describe average daily sunshine for each named month, rather than a monthly total or a change applying to every day.