Climate Change Chart of Saas-Fee, Switzerland

Overview of climate changes

Temperature changes

Averaged across calendar months, monthly mean temperatures show a difference of +3.28 °C in the more recent period compared with the earlier reference period; this is an unweighted mean across monthly means, not a day-weighted annual average or a measure of daytime maximum temperatures. The largest monthly increase was in December, with a difference of +7.52 °C in monthly mean temperature.

Changes in snowfall

Averaged across calendar months, mean daily snowfall had a difference of +4.70 mm/day in the more recent period. This is an unweighted mean across monthly means, not a day-weighted annual average, and the figures describe daily amounts rather than monthly totals. The largest monthly increase was in May, where mean daily snowfall showed a difference of +12.53 mm/day; this peak month does not establish that snowfall increased by the same amount in other months.

Changes in rainfall

Averaged across calendar months, mean daily rainfall had a difference of -0.40 mm/day in the more recent period; this unweighted mean of monthly means is not a day-weighted annual average, and daily amounts should not be read as monthly totals. The largest monthly decrease was in May, with a difference of -2.50 mm/day in mean daily rainfall. In contrast, July recorded the largest monthly increase, a difference of +0.71 mm/day; these month-specific changes show that the overall mean does not describe every month.

Changes in sunshine duration

Averaged across calendar months, mean daily sunshine duration had a difference of -0.38 hours/day compared with the earlier reference period. This is an unweighted mean across monthly means, rather than a day-weighted annual measure. The largest monthly decrease occurred in November, with a difference of -0.70 hours/day in mean daily sunshine duration; that month-specific result does not imply the same change in every month.