Climate Change Chart of Sri Jayawardenapura-Kotte, Sri Lanka

Overview of climate changes

Temperature changes

Averaged across calendar months, monthly mean temperature shows a difference of +0.61 °C compared with the earlier reference period; this is an unweighted mean of monthly means, not a day-weighted annual average or a measure of daytime highs. The largest monthly increase was in July, at a difference of +1.06 °C. This identifies the strongest increase among the supplied monthly temperature differences, rather than implying that every month warmed by the same amount.

Changes in rainfall

The unweighted mean across calendar months for mean daily rainfall records a difference of +0.82 mm/day compared with the earlier period; it describes monthly mean daily amounts, not monthly rainfall totals or a day-weighted annual average. The largest monthly increase was in November, with a difference of +4.78 mm/day, while the largest monthly decrease was in August, with a difference of -2.49 mm/day. These opposing monthly differences show why the overall mean should not be read as a description of every month's rainfall.

Changes in sunshine duration

Mean daily sunshine duration averaged across calendar months shows a difference of -0.17 hours/day between the periods, an unweighted summary of monthly means rather than a day-weighted annual measure. The largest monthly increase occurred in June, with a difference of +1.04 hours/day; the largest decrease was in November, with a difference of -1.43 hours/day. The overall mean therefore describes the aggregate across months, not a uniform change in daily sunshine throughout the year.