Climate Change Chart of Santa Fe, USA

Overview of climate changes

Temperature changes

Across calendar months, monthly mean temperature shows a difference of +2.58 °C compared with the earlier reference period; this is an unweighted average of monthly means, not a day-weighted annual figure or a measure of daytime highs. The largest monthly increase was in March, with a difference of +4.77 °C. These figures describe period averages and the largest month-specific difference, rather than a continuous change between the periods.

Changes in snowfall

Mean daily snowfall averaged across calendar months shows a difference of -0.12 mm/day compared with the earlier reference period. This is an unweighted mean of monthly averages, not a day-weighted annual snowfall amount or a monthly total. Monthly differences varied: the largest decrease was in March, with a difference of -2.64 mm/day, while the largest increase was in January, with a difference of +1.09 mm/day. These period-average differences do not imply that every month changed in the same direction.

Changes in rainfall

Mean daily rainfall averaged across calendar months shows a difference of -0.04 mm/day compared with the earlier reference period. This unweighted average of monthly means is not a day-weighted annual average, and it describes daily rainfall amounts rather than monthly totals. The largest monthly decrease occurred in April, with a difference of -0.37 mm/day, while the largest increase was in November, with a difference of +0.25 mm/day. These contrasts show that the period-average shift was not identical in every month.

Changes in sunshine duration

Mean daily sunshine duration, averaged across calendar months, had a difference of -0.15 hours/day between the reference periods; this unweighted monthly average is not a day-weighted annual figure. The largest monthly decrease was in December, with a difference of -0.33 hours/day. By contrast, April had the largest monthly increase, with a difference of +0.06 hours/day. These are differences in period averages for daily sunshine hours, not evidence of a continuous change over time.