Climate Change Chart of Prince Edward Island, Canada

Overview of climate changes

Temperature changes

Averaged across calendar months, monthly mean temperature shows a difference of +1.46 °C compared with the earlier reference period; this is an unweighted mean of the monthly means, not a day-weighted annual average or a measure of daytime highs. The largest monthly increase was in June, with a difference of +2.28 °C, highlighting that the overall mean does not describe every month’s change.

Changes in snowfall

Mean daily snowfall averaged across calendar months increased by a difference of +0.62 mm/day in the more recent period. This unweighted monthly-mean comparison is not a day-weighted annual average and does not mean snowfall increased in every month. Changes varied across the year: the largest monthly increase was in February, at a difference of +4.42 mm/day, while the largest decrease was in April, at a difference of -3.94 mm/day. These figures are mean daily amounts, not monthly snowfall totals.

Changes in rainfall

Mean daily rainfall, averaged across calendar months, increased by a difference of +0.30 mm/day in the more recent period. This unweighted comparison of monthly means is not a day-weighted annual average, and it does not imply that rainfall rose in every month. The largest monthly increase was in December, at a difference of +1.14 mm/day; the largest decrease occurred in May, at a difference of -0.33 mm/day. These are daily mean amounts, not monthly rainfall totals.

Changes in sunshine duration

Mean daily sunshine duration averaged across calendar months decreased by a difference of -0.45 hours/day compared with the earlier reference period. This is an unweighted average of monthly means, rather than a day-weighted annual figure, and it does not establish a decrease in every month. The largest monthly decrease was in March, with a difference of -0.92 hours/day; sunshine values describe mean daily hours.