<p>Apologies, this is a simple question.
But I just want to make sure I am calculating the mean, annual maximum temperatures correctly.</p>
<p>I have monthly temperature data from 1980 - 2019. In order to get the mean annual maximum temperatures based on monthly averages, do you:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>get the maximum temperature for each year (1980, then 1981 etc.). now there is 1 maximum temperature for each year (so 39 years worth of maximum temperatures)</p>
</li>
<li><p>now that there are 39 years of maximum temperatures, do you then take the average of that to get the mean annual max temps?</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>Is that the correct way to calculate the mean annual maximum temperatures from monthly temperature data?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-12T17:58:04.223Z
Just to verify... you have monthly **maximum** temperatures right?  (If you only have one monthly value available, that may be the average overall temperature for the month, an average of the max and min, and so you don't have max data) (you didn't say explicitly, just saying you have monthly averages)
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-12T17:59:53.687Z
I would think if you want mean annual maximum temperature**s** you just want step 1.  Once you do step 2, you just have one value, a very very general idea of the warmest month each year.
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-12T18:04:29.833Z
There's still the question of whether you're looking for the typical hottest day of the year, which monthly means can't help with.  But I think you just are saying "what's the typical high during the hottest month", which the monthly data does give you, and then if you want "what's kind of the overall middle of the maximums", that's what an average gives.
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-12T18:06:36.863Z
I would think it can be a challenge because to me "I want the yearly averaged value of all the daily high temps" (kind of a representative value of the warmth of a location) and "I want the average highest temp of the year" (a measure of how hot it peaks) can both indeed be called mean annual maximums, which makes a lot of confusion.  You have to ask yourself which type of value you want, and not mix up what they're saying.  If it's someone else asking you to get this mean annual max... then it's the challenge of figuring out what they're looking for :-/
JeopardyTempest
<climate><temperature>
How to calculate mean annual maximum temperatures from monthly temperature values?
wabash
# How to calculate mean annual maximum temperatures from monthly temperature values?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-10-12)

Apologies, this is a simple question.
But I just want to make sure I am calculating the mean, annual maximum temperatures correctly.

I have monthly temperature data from 1980 - 2019. In order to get the mean annual maximum temperatures based on monthly averages, do you:

1. get the maximum temperature for each year (1980, then 1981 etc.). now there is 1 maximum temperature for each year (so 39 years worth of maximum temperatures)
2. now that there are 39 years of maximum temperatures, do you then take the average of that to get the mean annual max temps?

Is that the correct way to calculate the mean annual maximum temperatures from monthly temperature data?

**Tags:** climate, temperature

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Just to verify... you have monthly **maximum** temperatures right?  (If you only have one monthly value available, that may be the average overall temperature for the month, an average of the max and min, and so you don't have max data) (you didn't say explicitly, just saying you have monthly averages)  
> **username_1**: I would think if you want mean annual maximum temperature**s** you just want step 1.  Once you do step 2, you just have one value, a very very general idea of the warmest month each year.  
> **username_1**: There's still the question of whether you're looking for the typical hottest day of the year, which monthly means can't help with.  But I think you just are saying "what's the typical high during the hottest month", which the monthly data does give you, and then if you want "what's kind of the overall middle of the maximums", that's what an average gives.  
> **username_1**: I would think it can be a challenge because to me "I want the yearly averaged value of all the daily high temps" (kind of a representative value of the warmth of a location) and "I want the average highest temp of the year" (a measure of how hot it peaks) can both indeed be called mean annual maximums, which makes a lot of confusion.  You have to ask yourself which type of value you want, and not mix up what they're saying.  If it's someone else asking you to get this mean annual max... then it's the challenge of figuring out what they're looking for :-/  

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## 0 answers

