It’s just not Normal

Normals, normals, normals. A climate normal is an average of a particular quantity – temperature, rainfall, humidity, whatever – over an extended period of time, usually 30 years. If you’ve ever been on holiday to a foreign or unfamiliar place and wondered what to wear, you’ve probably made use of a climate normal for the city or region you were visiting – how warm is it in May? how much rain can I expect? do I need to pack an umbrella or oilskins? – without realising it. They have all manner of other uses too and are widely used throughout climate science/services/communications/etc/etc.

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