Colorado is likely to be warmer and drier than normal this fall, which could be part of a larger trend.
A recent analysis from Climate Central used more than five decades of temperature data for 242 cities across the country. The results? 97% of them have experienced fall warming since 1970.
While Fort Collins was not included in the analysis, Denver recorded a 3.4 degree Fahrenheit increase, which is above the national average of 2.4 degrees.
In Colorado Springs, there was a 4.5 degree increase, while in the Grand Junction area, temperatures rose 0.6 degrees.
“A warmer autumn means that the risky heat, high cooling demand, wildfires and allergies of summer will last longer into the year, with implications for health, ecosystems and the economy,” the report said.
The fall warming is occurring across the country, but the regions seeing the greatest increase are the southwestern and northern Rocky Mountains and Plains, the analysis found.
These are the locations with the greatest warming:
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Reno, Nevada (24°C)
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El Paso, Texas (6.1°F)
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Las Vegas, Nevada (6.1°F)
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Tucson, Arizona (5.6°F)
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Phoenix, Arizona (5.4°F)
Climate Central’s analysis also shows that warming in the US has occurred in all seasons since the 1890s.
A climate change report from Colorado State University states that rising temperatures in Colorado are “strongly linked to overall human influence on climate and recent global warming.”
And this warming is projected to continue. By 2050, an average year will likely be “as warm as the warmest years on record through 2022,” the CSU report said.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fall likely to be warmer in Colorado, according to Climate Central analysis
