KEY CONCEPTS
NOAA climate normals were updated this week. The climate normals, updated every ten years, are 30-year averages of climatological variables which give us a reference point for comparing current weather against what’s considered “normal”.
Climate normals also provide important information for a range of economic sectors, informing growers’ decisions on when to plant crops and what crops to plant, how electrical utilities can expect energy demand to vary by season, and planning construction projects.
Warming between our new normal period (1991-2020) and the previous one (1981-2010) was widespread across the U.S., with the exception of the northern Great Plains.