Future Climate Projections - Graphs & Maps

Check temperature, precipitation, and other climate conditions projected for the future for any county in the contiguous United States or burough in Alaska. Generate graphs or maps to compare conditions observed in the recent past (1961-1990) with conditions projected in future decades out to 2100. 

Where did these data come from?

Data in Climate Explorer are from a worldwide climate modeling experiment called CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5). In this experiment, climate modelers around the world programmed their models to simulate past temperature and precipitation based on the observed abundance of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere and to project future conditions based upon a set of four scenarios that describe specific ways the atmosphere might change. The scenarios are called Representative Concentration Pathways or RCPs.

To make the projections useful at a county scale, coarse results (large pixels) from the global climate models were statistically downscaled using the Localized Constructed Analogs (LOCA) technique. The Climate Explorer shows results from two of the RCPs, labeling RCP4.5 as "lower emissions" and RCP8.5 as "higher emissions."

Learn more about the data in Climate Explorer on the site's About page.

• How-To

  Enter a city, county, or zip code in the search field on the Climate Explorer's home page.

  Select one of the cards to view various maps or graphs.

• Data Access
  Data Format(s)

  CSV, PNG

  Access Type	Link & Description
  Graphing	U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit's Climate Explorer Explore how temperature, precipitation, and related climate variables are projected to change through 2100 in every county/borough in the U.S.

• Documentation

  Documentation Type	Link & Description
  General	About Climate Explorer
  General	Glossary
  General	Frequently Asked Questions

• Related Datasets
  • State Climate Summaries from NOAA
• Technical
  Technical Notes

  Climate.gov offers a range of Frequently Asked Questions regarding global warming.

  Data Type

  Model

  Essential Climate Variables

  Air temperature,

  Science Organization

  NOAA

  Email

  noaa.toolkit@noaa.gov
• Additional Information

  The Climate Explorer provides interactive graphs and maps showing past and projected climate conditions for counties and county-equivalents across the United States. Built to support the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit, the tool helps people explore projected future climate conditions that may put people, property, and other assets at risk.

  FernLeaf Interactive and the National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC) at the University of North Carolina Asheville built the Climate Explorer’s graphing modules; they also built the interactive map modules which are powered by ArcGIS. All requests for historic and projected climate data are powered by ACIS web services. Habitat Seven led the initial design of the Climate Explorer interface. If you have questions or comments about the Climate Explorer, please direct them to noaa.toolkit@noaa.gov.