The new climate normals have been released from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Climate normals are updated every ten years and used by meteorologists to find the average temperature, precipitation, and snowfall among other variables. They’re also used by farmers and energy sectors.
For the past decade, the normals had been based on weather observations from 1981-2010. Now they will be based on weather observations from 1991 to 2020.
Comparing the previous 30-year average (1981-2010) to the most recent (1991-2020), most of the Lower 48 is now warmer. The exception are states in the Northern Plains like North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. A good portion of the U.S. is also wetter but there are some exceptions which include much of the West.
30-year averages have been used since the early 1900s. If you compare the U.S. annual average temperature during each period to the 20th-century average, it’s clear that the U.S. is warming.
Wetter conditions are being observed across the country over the last six decades.
The city of Pittsburgh is also warming. The average annual temperature for the city is 51.8 degrees based on the new 30-year normals (1991-2020). This is 0.5 degrees warmer than the previous 30-year average. The month that saw the biggest increase in temperature (+1.3 degrees) was December.
The city is also wetter. The previous average annual precipitation was 38.19 inches and the new average is 39.61 inches. October saw the biggest change; it is now wetter by 0.54 inches of precipitation.
Pittsburgh’s average annual snowfall based on the old normals (1981-2010) was 41.3 inches and it’s now 44.1 inches, a nearly three-inch increase. The month that saw the biggest increase was January. The new average for the month is 13.3 inches, an increase of 1.8 inches.