Counties in Indiana with the fastest-rising temperatures in the last 100 years
Counties in Indiana with the fastest-rising temperatures in the last 100 years
Hitting 116 degrees F in normally temperate Portland, Oregon. 105 degrees in Reno in September, just as summer is meant to be waning. And in California's Death Valley National Park, temperatures hit almost 130 degrees in the aptly named Furnace Creek, marking a world record for the hottest September day in history.
2021 and 2022 saw some of the hottest temperatures ever recorded, as across the country extreme heat waves wreaked havoc on communities accustomed to more moderate weather. For many regions, the consequences were grave: in the 2021 Western heatwave, hundreds lost their lives, largely due to a lack of air conditioning, and wildfires ravaged the area.
Map of the past year's temperatures compared to the 100-year average
While not every county in the nation has experienced such extreme heat, climate change has dramatically changed the heat landscape in nearly every state. Coastal regions and the Southern U.S. are particularly vulnerable to rising temperatures, and are also frequently targets of extreme weather events like hurricanes and tornadoes.
Just as all states are not impacted equally by rising temperatures, regions within states have also seen widely different temperature changes over the last decades. Factors such as proximity to urban areas, bodies of water, and mountains can dramatically change the climate of a region. Stacker cited data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Center for Environmental Information to identify the counties in Indiana with the greatest departure from average temperatures during the period December 2021 to November 2022 compared to the 1901-2000 average. Average temperature over the past year served as a tiebreaker. Additional data on recent average high and low temperatures for each county is also included.
#50. Clinton County
- #27 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 41.1 F (1.7 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 62.2 F (1.4 F above century average)
#49. Tippecanoe County
- #28 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 41.2 F (1.8 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 62.7 F (1.4 F above century average)
#48. Hamilton County
- #24 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 41.8 F (1.5 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 63 F (1.7 F above century average)
#47. Brown County
- #22 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 43 F (1.4 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 64.6 F (1.7 F above century average)
#46. Decatur County
- #21 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 43.4 F (1.5 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 64.5 F (1.7 F above century average)
#45. Greene County
- #23 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 43.1 F (1.6 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 65.2 F (1.6 F above century average)
#44. Gibson County
- #20 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 46.2 F (1.8 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 67.2 F (1.5 F above century average)
#43. Fulton County
- #21 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 40 F (1.8 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 61.3 F (1.7 F above century average)
#42. Rush County
- #18 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 42.6 F (1.5 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 63.6 F (1.9 F above century average)
#41. Marion County
- #18 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 43 F (1.7 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 63.5 F (1.7 F above century average)
#40. Jackson County
- #18 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 43.8 F (1.3 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 66.3 F (2.2 F above century average)
#39. Steuben County
- #22 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 39.4 F (1.8 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 59.5 F (1.7 F above century average)
#38. DeKalb County
- #21 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 40.2 F (1.9 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 60.5 F (1.8 F above century average)
#37. Allen County
- #21 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 40.8 F (1.7 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 61.4 F (2 F above century average)
#36. Wells County
- #21 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 41.1 F (1.5 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 62.2 F (2.2 F above century average)
#35. Montgomery County
- #21 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 41.3 F (1.8 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 63 F (1.7 F above century average)
#34. Henry County
- #17 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 41.6 F (1.5 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 62.8 F (2.2 F above century average)
#33. Hendricks County
- #20 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 42.3 F (1.9 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 63.1 F (1.6 F above century average)
#32. Hancock County
- #18 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 42.8 F (1.8 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 63.5 F (1.8 F above century average)
#31. Johnson County
- #17 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 43.2 F (1.7 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 64.2 F (1.9 F above century average)
#30. Clay County
- #18 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 43 F (1.7 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 65 F (2 F above century average)
#29. Ripley County
- #15 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 43.6 F (1.8 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 64.8 F (1.8 F above century average)
#28. Bartholomew County
- #19 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 43.8 F (1.3 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 65.5 F (2.2 F above century average)
#27. Sullivan County
- #19 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 44.1 F (1.6 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 65.6 F (1.9 F above century average)
#26. Jennings County
- #17 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 44.2 F (1.7 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 65.9 F (1.9 F above century average)
#25. LaGrange County
- #21 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 40 F (2.1 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 59.9 F (1.7 F above century average)
#24. Noble County
- #20 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 40 F (1.9 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 60.4 F (1.9 F above century average)
#23. Randolph County
- #17 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 41.2 F (1.5 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 62.5 F (2.4 F above century average)
#22. Grant County
- #15 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 41.6 F (1.4 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 63.1 F (2.5 F above century average)
#21. Shelby County
- #13 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 43.6 F (1.9 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 64.5 F (2 F above century average)
#20. Washington County
- #13 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 43.6 F (1.4 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 66.7 F (2.3 F above century average)
#19. St. Joseph County
- #20 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 40 F (2 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 60.5 F (2.1 F above century average)
#18. Kosciusko County
- #18 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 40.1 F (1.8 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 61.4 F (2.3 F above century average)
#17. Jay County
- #17 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 41.2 F (1.4 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 62.7 F (2.6 F above century average)
#16. Boone County
- #14 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 41.7 F (2.2 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 62.6 F (1.8 F above century average)
#15. Blackford County
- #15 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 41.6 F (1.3 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 63.1 F (2.7 F above century average)
#14. Vigo County
- #16 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 43.5 F (1.7 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 65.4 F (2.2 F above century average)
#13. Dearborn County
- #12 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 44.2 F (1.8 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 65.3 F (2.1 F above century average)
#12. Harrison County
- #11 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 45 F (1.6 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 68.2 F (2.4 F above century average)
#11. Elkhart County
- #19 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 40.1 F (2.2 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 60.4 F (2 F above century average)
#10. Marshall County
- #20 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 39.9 F (2 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 61 F (2.1 F above century average)
#9. Adams County
- #17 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 41.3 F (1.9 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 62.1 F (2.4 F above century average)
#8. Madison County
- #16 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 42.2 F (1.8 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 63.6 F (2.3 F above century average)
#7. Jefferson County
- #12 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 44.9 F (2.1 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 66.4 F (2 F above century average)
#6. Scott County
- #12 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 44.4 F (1.7 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 67.3 F (2.6 F above century average)
#5. Clark County
- #11 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 45.1 F (1.8 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 68 F (2.6 F above century average)
#4. Ohio County
- #11 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 45.2 F (2.4 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 66 F (2.2 F above century average)
#3. Switzerland County
- #11 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 45.5 F (2.5 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 66.2 F (2.1 F above century average)
#2. Delaware County
- #9 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 42.3 F (1.9 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 63.7 F (2.9 F above century average)
#1. Floyd County
- #9 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 45.5 F (2 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 68.2 F (2.7 F above century average)