Abstract
Decadal trends of continuous seasonal maximum and minimum air temperature and air temperature range are analyzed by elevation within the southern Appalachian Mountains of the southeastern United States. Temperature data included spanned December 1969 to November 2018 and were obtained from the quality controlled Global Historical Climatology Network-monthly, version 4. Linear least squares regression indicates statistically-significant warming trends with minimum seasonal air temperature typically increasing more than maximum seasonal air temperature, reflecting a decrease of the air temperature range with time, particularly during the boreal meteorological winter, spring, and summer seasons. Regressions of station decadal trends versus station elevation illustrate the presence of elevation-dependent warming with the magnitude of decadal temperature trends decreasing as station elevation increases, at least up to 850 m above mean sea level. As a result, the regional vertical temperature lapse rate was also found to increase with time, suggesting the possibility for precipitation and convection lift implications. From a biogeography standpoint, the increasing vertical temperature gradient may imply an acceleration of species upslope migration with time.
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