File: People walk along The Mall in Central Park as trees turn color on November 9, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES – New data reveals that the fall season has warmed in nearly every county across the U.S. since 1970 – and where it has warmed the most.
Climate Central analyzed the last 55 years of fall temperature data in 243 U.S. cities.
Fall temperatures have increased nearly everywhere
By the numbers:
The data found that average fall temperatures have increased since 1970 in 237 (98%) of the 243 locations analyzed.
On average, cities that experienced an increase in temperatures have warmed by an average of 2.8°F. Since 1970, 103 (42%) of those locations have warmed by 3°F or more.
In addition, 238 (98%) of the locations analyzed have seen an increase in the annual number of days above their normal fall temperatures since 1970, and almost half of the cities analyzed (49%) now experience at least two more weeks’ worth of above-normal fall days than in 1970.
Fall is heating up – especially in the Southwest
Local perspective:
Researchers at Climate Central also found that the Southwest and Northern Rockies and Plains regions have experienced the most fall warming in the time period analyzed.
The top five fall warming locations were:
- Reno, Nevada: 7.7°F
- El Paso, Texas: 6.5°F
- Las Vegas, Nevada: 6.2°F
- Tyler, Texas: 5.8°F
- Tucson, Arizona: 5.8°F
Change in average fall temperature (1970-2024)
Seasons continue to get hotter
Big picture view:
According to Climate Central, rising levels of carbon pollution have been causing temperatures to heat up for decades.
Another analysis, published in July by Climate Central, used climate model projections to calculate how summer high temperatures could change during each decade between 2060 and 2100.
RELATED: Here’s how much hotter your summers could get by 2060 and 2100
With high levels of heat-trapping pollution, the researchers found that future summer high temperatures in U.S. cities would heat up by an average of 3.6°F by 2060 and 7.9°F by 2100.
For 16 U.S. cities, there was no equivalent in North America to how hot they’d be in 2100. Their future summers were more similar to current conditions in Pakistan (e.g., Houston), the Middle East (e.g., Phoenix, Austin, and Las Vegas) and North Africa (e.g., Bryan, Texas).
The Source: The information for this story was provided by multiple ClimateData reports published this year, along with their analysis of historical temperature data logged by NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). This story was reported from Los Angeles.
