The spatial patterns of Jiangsu temperature trends and inter-decadal variations(1961-2001) are investigated by using the monthly mean temperatures of 60 weather stations in Jiangsu Province.Results show that:the regional annual mean temperature rose by about 1℃ in the study period,with maximum warming(cooling) in December to February(July to August).Inter-decadal variations of seasonal mean temperatures are somewhat similar to the annual counterparts in such a way that the these temperatures decreased on the whole in the 1960s,and fluctuated in the 1970s to early 1980s,followed by rapid increasing in the later 1980s to 1990s.As a result,the highest temperatures of annual,spring,autumn and winter occurred in the 1990s,except that the summer temperatures droped more or less in the late 1990s,with its maxima measured in the 1960s.The spatial differences in trends and inter-decadal variations lie mainly in the range of temperature change.Generally,spring,autumn,winter and annual mean temperatures rose all over the whole province,and especially winter to spring and annual means rose most distinctly in Suzhou,Wuxi,and Changzhou in the southern part of the province,and Xuzhou and Lianyungang in the northern part,with the maximum autumn warming observed in the southern part(Suzhou,Wuxi,and Changzhou).Summer temperatures showed dropping trends in most areas of the province,particularly in the east coastal area and southwest Jiangsu,which is in sharp contrast to weakly rising trends in part of the northern Jiangsu.