Bringing the Universe to America's Classrooms
Daily and Seasonal Weather

Using Average Temperature Data

Looking for patterns in the daily temperature for a year or more can be difficult. Grouping the temperature data can make some patterns easier to see. One way to do that is to think about the temperature for a whole month. The average monthly temperature describes what the temperature usually was every day during a month.
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Average Temperature Example (Click to open)
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If you know that the average temperature for a month was 75°F, then you can predict that there were no snowy days. You can also guess that people did not need to wear a coat outside.

This graph shows average monthly temperatures for one year in a U.S. city. Organizing the data this way helps you see how temperatures change over a year.
A bar graph titled “Average Monthly Temperatures (degrees Fahrenheit) for a U.S. City.”
Vertical blue bars show the temperatures. The y-axis, or vertical side, lists temperatures from 0 up to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The x-axis, or horizontal side, lists all months from January to December. See the alt-format document in Handouts on PBS LearningMedia for a list of the temperatures.

Take Notes

Use the graph to answer these questions:

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