DETAILED ANALYSIS OF CLIMATE TRENDS FROM THE NORTHERN TIER OF VERMONT FROM 2000-2014

Various Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports have focused on global climate change developments, however, the public is more concerned by local and regional changes that may develop within the global context. Microclimate analyses allows for an evaluation of what is happening in our region as it relates to the larger question of global changes. In the summer of 2015, my project was to take weather station data from the St. Johnsbury (STJ) area, 2000 to 2014, was processed into monthly, seasonal, decadal and yearly data using hourly data provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). All data was compiled using Microsoft Excel; in order to make more efficient use of time multiple templates were created and macros were used. Once this individual station evaluation was complete, the results were compared to other stations in the northern tier of Vermont which was Johnson (JSC), Burlington (BTV), and Morrisville (MVL). Observing the processed seasonal decadal data has shown in the winter months a trend of increase in precipitation events, while a trend of increasing average temperatures has been observed. In observing the processed summer seasonal decadal data showed an increase of precipitation while for the same period of evaluation there was decrease in temperature had happened. The spring season shows a trend of colder average temperatures and lower precipitation, while the fall season had trends of warmer average temperature and increased precipitation.

Overall, across the ST. Johnsonbury station showed noticeable changes across all 12 months, with the average temperature decreasing while the precipitation has been relatively constant. This data also follows similar trends when comparing to the other four stations. All of the data collected and in comparison to the other four stations in the northern tier of Vermont is consistent to the IPCC claims.