Average Temperatures in the Austin, Texas Area Over the Last 40 Years

Average Temperatures in the Austin, Texas Area Over the Last 40 Years

In a recent survey, you responded that you wanted to learn more about climate change.  In this post, we take a look at one aspect of climate: temperature.  We previously looked at rainfall in another post.

For this post, we looked at average temperatures for the Austin, Texas area over the last forty years (1984 – 2023).

The Data

The data we looked at showed average monthly temperatures for each month as well as average yearly temperatures for each year going back over the last forty years.  Although it wasn’t completely certain, it appeared that the monthly averages came from averaging the lows and highs for each day in a month.  The yearly averages came from averaging those monthly averages.

Here is the data showing the yearly average temperatures for the Austin area in °F:

To give a little more perspective, if you look at 2023 as an example, the monthly averages were as follows:

The average for 2023 was 72.2 °F.  This is an average of the monthly averages for 2023.  As noted, the monthly averages appear to be averages made from the lows and highs from each day in a month.  For example, the average for December 2023 was 55.8 °F.  This appears to be an average made from the averages of the lows and highs for each day in December 2023.  For example, if a day in December had a low of 40 °F and a high of 60 °F, the average for the day would be 50 °F.  These daily averages appear to have been averaged together to get the average for the month.

A Visual Look

Here’s a graph showing the average yearly temperatures for the Austin, Texas area.  This shows the data noted above in the table.

Here’s that same graph with a trendline applied:

A Look at Some of the Data

Here’s a look at some of the data:

First, here are the average temperatures in °F for ten-year periods:

The slope of the trendline in the graph is 0.06915572233.  What this means is that, according to the trendline, each year the average temperature in the Austin, Texas area increased by 0.06915572233 °F.

The minimum yearly temperature was 67.1 °F.

The maximum yearly temperature was 72.2 °F.

The median yearly temperature was 69.8 °F.

The average yearly temperature was 69.915 °F.

Twenty two years had average temperatures below 70 °F.

Eighteen years had average temperatures at 70 °F or above.

From 1984 – 2003, sixteen years had average temperatures below 70 °F and four years had averages at 70 °F or above.

From 2004 – 2003, six years had average temperatures below 70 °F and fourteen years had averages at 70 °F or above.

From 2016 – 2023, average yearly temperatures were all above 70 °F.

Some Inferences from the Data

There are some inferences from the data, and they generally point to the idea that over the last forty years, the average temperature in the Austin, Texas area has increased.  

Looking at the slope of the trendline, the temperature trended up 0.06915572233 degrees each year, 0.6915572233 each ten years, and 2.7662288932 over the forty-year period.

If you look at the averages for the ten-year periods noted above, you can see that the average increased for each ten-year period over the forty years.

Since 2016, the average yearly temperature was above both median and the mean temperature for the forty-year period.

The highest average temperature over the last forty years occurred in 2023.

For the first twenty years of the forty years, 80% of the years had average yearly temperatures below 70 °F.  For the last twenty years, 30% of the years had average yearly temperatures below 70 °F.

What This Means for Your Trees

Climate is complicated and it can be hard to tell exactly what impact a change in it will have.  Additionally, here, we only looked at one aspect of climate and only in one place.  It can be difficult to draw too many inferences from this and even more difficult to apply them broadly.  Also, small changes can have large impacts and it can be difficult to know how large those impacts will be.

If you live in the Austin area, what trees can do well, where they can be planted, how much water they need, and more, might all be changing because of the changes in temperatures.  Conditions now might be different than they were forty years ago.  A qualified arborist can help you to evaluate your situation, understand how the changing temperatures might impact your specific trees, and can help you develop a plan for their care.  It could turn out that you might find that different trees might do better than the trees that used to do well in the area and that the requirements for their care might be different.

If you are interested in looking up other climate data for the Austin, Texas area, this site with climate data can provide you with some information.

If you are concerned about changes in the climate and how it affects your trees, you can reach out to us in the Austin area at (512) 546-3833 or email us at frontdesk@arbortrue.com to schedule an appointment.

If you found learning about temperatures in the Austin, Texas area interesting, be sure and check out our other TrueTreeTalk blog posts.  Follow us on Facebook to keep up with these and other posts.

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ArborTrue is a science-based tree-service company.  We provide a range of services including tree trimming, tree pruning, tree removal, tree planting, arborist consultations, and more.  Reach out to us online to schedule an appointment.