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Evidence of Global Warming in Concord, NH?

 

            Climate history for my region, NH, was a bit scattered across different sources, but I was able to find some solid information on the year of 2018 in Concord, NH. The National Weather Service provided detailed information including all the notable weather events of that year, and comparing these to previous years all the way back to 1868. It turns out that 2018 was a year of several record-breaking phenomena, with about seven records broken or tied (National Weather Service).

            The average temperature of 2018 was 47.7 degrees, 1.3 degrees above the normal average. It marked the fourth year in a row of temperatures above normal since 2014. The year also had the fourth longest period of zero degree weather on record at the beginning of the year, from December 27 to January 7. It had the warmest February temperatures on record at 74 degrees. There was one of the latest days in spring with a high of 32 or colder since 1868, the earliest 90 degree day since 2009 on May 2, and the fifth longest period of 90 degree weather in June and July (other years included 1970 and 1977, among others). The first freeze was two weeks later than usual, on October 13. 2018 marked the longest period of above-freezing temperatures since 1868, with 172 days from April 24 to October 13. 2018 had the coldest Thanksgiving since 1873 (National Weather Service).

            To make things simpler, here is a breakdown of the records for 2018 in Concord, NH, courtesy of the National Weather Service Website:

 

            I also thought it worthy to mention that 2018 was the 6th wettest year since 1868 at 53.08 inches of rain, which is 12.47 inches above the average. But 2018 is not the wettest year on record for Concord: that title goes to 2008, which had 57.99 inches of rain (National Weather Service).

           Looking at these trends, it appears that 2018 had several unusually intense climate trends: a record-breaking cold spell to start the year, a record-breaking heat wave in summer, high precipitation, and anomalies like the warmest February and the coldest Thanksgiving. Overall temperatures were above normal for the fourth year in a row since 2014 (National Weather Service). Not only does it appear that Concord, NH is heating up, but it is showing some more intense weather patterns.

           I cannot be entirely sure if these trends are indicative of global warming, because regional climates can fluctuate so widely across time and the events of one region cannot speak for the worldwide climate (Grotzinger, Jordan). A bigger picture of the evidence of climate change is needed to make an accurate prediction. But looking just at Concord, NH, the symptoms do point towards warming-up.

         I am curious to see what other people on the Discussion board have found about their regions. Are they heating up? Cooling down? Is the weather unusually extreme and breaking records, like Concord NH?