Potential effects of global warming include sea level rise, more frequent and more extreme heat waves, intensification of wet and dry regional climate patterns.
Considering some locations experience temperature swings of 30°F or more in a single day, warming of 1.8°F (1°C) might seem small, but Earth's annual temperatures are very stable when climate isn't changing.
Extreme precipitation events have grown more frequent since the start of the twentieth century, and such events are likely to become even more frequent over the twenty-first.
During active hurricane eras, a persistent zone of high vertical wind shear along the U.S. East Coast provides protection from rapidly intensifying hurricanes. With high emissions, that shear is projected to relax.
A 1°C (1.8°F) increase in average winter air temperature will have a significant impact on Sierra Nevada snowpack, but different parts of the mountain range will respond differently.
From retreating snow elevations to rain-soaked powder, warming due to human-caused climate change will radically transform U.S. skiing over the remainder of the twenty-first century.
Impacts of global warming on Great Plains summer rainfall and vegetation are biggest unknowns.
Most of the United States has better than even odds of June temperatures being in the warmest third of the 1981-2010 climate record.
Test runs of experimental models for predicting winter snowpack show some success in many mountain ranges in the western United States.
The most recent 8-14 day outlook for the United States predicts a turn towards wintry temperatures across the eastern United States, but much warmer than average temperatures in the West.