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How much has Des Moines warmed?

Each stripe below is one year of average temperature in Polk County, from 1895 on the left to 2025 on the right. Blue years were cooler than the 20th-century average of 49.2°F, and red years were warmer.

1895: -1.6°F1896: -0.4°F1897: -0.9°F1898: -0.9°F1899: -1.0°F1900: +1.0°F1901: +0.5°F1902: -1.0°F1903: -1.0°F1904: -2.1°F1905: -1.3°F1906: -0.1°F1907: -1.1°F1908: +0.9°F1909: -1.0°F1910: +0.2°F1911: +1.4°F1912: -2.4°F1913: +1.4°F1914: +0.9°F1915: -0.9°F1916: -1.0°F1917: -3.2°F1918: +1.0°F1919: +0.1°F1920: -0.3°F1921: +3.5°F1922: +1.3°F1923: +0.2°F1924: -2.4°F1925: +0.1°F1926: -0.2°F1927: +0.2°F1928: +0.7°F1929: -2.5°F1930: +1.7°F1931: +4.2°F1932: -0.4°F1933: +2.3°F1934: +3.0°F1935: -0.3°F1936: +0.0°F1937: -1.2°F1938: +2.8°F1939: +2.7°F1940: -1.0°F1941: +2.2°F1942: +0.1°F1943: -1.0°F1944: +0.7°F1945: -1.1°F1946: +1.6°F1947: -0.2°F1948: +0.2°F1949: +0.3°F1950: -2.6°F1951: -3.2°F1952: +0.0°F1953: +1.5°F1954: +1.7°F1955: +0.2°F1956: +0.5°F1957: -0.4°F1958: -1.0°F1959: -0.9°F1960: -1.9°F1961: -1.1°F1962: -1.3°F1963: +0.1°F1964: +0.9°F1965: -0.7°F1966: -1.1°F1967: -0.8°F1968: -0.3°F1969: -1.7°F1970: -0.6°F1971: 0.0°F1972: -2.3°F1973: +1.1°F1974: +0.2°F1975: +0.1°F1976: -0.1°F1977: +1.3°F1978: -2.1°F1979: -2.2°F1980: +0.5°F1981: +1.7°F1982: -1.4°F1983: +0.3°F1984: +0.2°F1985: -1.7°F1986: +1.0°F1987: +3.3°F1988: +1.3°F1989: -1.1°F1990: +1.8°F1991: +1.1°F1992: +0.4°F1993: -2.0°F1994: -0.1°F1995: -0.4°F1996: -2.4°F1997: -0.6°F1998: +3.0°F1999: +1.9°F2000: +1.2°F2001: +1.5°F2002: +1.5°F2003: +0.2°F2004: +0.5°F2005: +1.9°F2006: +2.9°F2007: +1.2°F2008: -1.8°F2009: -1.0°F2010: +0.2°F2011: +0.7°F2012: +4.4°F2013: -0.9°F2014: -2.2°F2015: +1.2°F2016: +3.2°F2017: +2.9°F2018: +0.0°F2019: -0.9°F2020: +1.3°F2021: +2.3°F2022: -0.1°F2023: +2.9°F2024: +4.0°F2025: +2.0°F
1895Des Moines, yearly average temperature2025

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Last 10 years
+1.8°F2016-2025 vs the 1901-2000 average
Warmest year
2024then 2012, 1987, 1931
Coldest year
1951in the 1895-2025 record
20th-century average
49.2°Fall months, Polk County

Decade by decade

-1.0°1890s
-0.5°1900s
-0.2°1910s
+0.1°1920s
+1.5°1930s
+0.2°1940s
-0.4°1950s
-0.8°1960s
-0.4°1970s
+0.4°1980s
+0.3°1990s
+0.8°2000s
+0.9°2010s
+2.1°2020-25

Average difference from the 1901-2000 average, by decade. The 2020s cover 2020 to 2025.

Nearby cities

See which cities have warmed the most in our warming ranking, or today's normal weather month by month in Des Moines.

Frequently asked questions

How much warmer is Des Moines than it used to be?

In Polk County, the ten years from 2016 to 2025 averaged 1.8°F warmer than the 20th-century average of 49.2°F, according to NOAA's county temperature records.

What was the warmest year on record in Des Moines?

The warmest years in NOAA's county record are 2024, 2012, 1987, 1931 and 1921. The coldest was 1951.

What are climate stripes?

Each stripe is one year. Its color shows how that year's average temperature compares with the long-term average: blue for cooler, red for warmer, darker for bigger differences. The design comes from climate scientist Ed Hawkins.

Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, nClimDiv county average temperature (version 1.0.0, October 2026 release). Values are county averages built from adjusted weather station records on a 5 km grid, so they describe Polk County as a whole rather than downtown Des Moines, and they correct for changes in stations and instruments over time. Incomplete years are left out. Stripes design by Ed Hawkins (#ShowYourStripes).