Climate Now & Future

Select a variable for the data. Definitions are provided below.

More Information Here: Data Documentation – WY-Adapt Future Climate 

Precipitation

• Total Precipitation: Total amount of water that falls from the atmosphere as rain, snow, or other forms of precipitation during a specified period. Higher precipitation can mean wetter conditions and increased water availability, while lower precipitation can contribute to dry conditions and water shortages. 

Temperature

• Average Temperature: Mean temperature recorded over a specified period of time. Average temperature provides a general picture of the climate conditions experienced in an area. 

• Maximum Temperature: Highest temperature recorded over a specified period of time. This helps identify the hottest conditional an area experience. It can be useful for assessing heat stress, planning for energy demand, managing crops and livestock and understanding impacts on ecosystems. 

• Minimum Temperature: Lowest temperature recorded over a specified period of time. Minimum temperature helps identify the coldest conditions an area experiences. 

Global Climate Models (GCMs) are tools used to project how climate conditions may change in the future.

More Information Here: Data Documentation – WY-Adapt Future Climate

Ensemble: A collection of climate model simulations that use slightly different starting conditions to produce a range of plausible future climate outcomes. Ensembles help show the natural variability and uncertainty in climate projections and can support planning and decision-making.

Scenarios: Climate scenarios describe different possible future climate conditions based on changes in temperature, precipitation, snow, and other climate factors. Each scenario represents a different combination of projected climate conditions and can be used with ensemble data to explore a range of potential impacts.

• Hot & Smoky: Represents a warmer mid-century future, with global temperatures increasing by approximately 5.4°F (3°C). This scenario is characterized by more frequent hot conditions and a significant increase in smoky summer days. Precipitation remains highly variable, while warmer temperatures can cause earlier snowmelt, increased evaporation, and reduced late-summer water availability. Rain-on-snow events and rapid spring snowmelt may also increase flood risk.

• Warm Refuge: Represents a moderately warmer mid-century future, with global temperatures increasing by approximately 3.6°F (2°C) above late-19th-century temperatures. Warmer conditions combined with slightly lower precipitation increase the likelihood of low-snow years. Earlier snowmelt and rain-on-snow events may affect the timing and availability of water and increase the potential for flooding.

• Shrinking Snowpack: Represents a warmer mid-century future, with global temperatures increasing by approximately 3.6°F (2°C) above late-19th-century temperatures. Although precipitation increases slightly, warmer temperatures cause more precipitation to fall as rain rather than snow, particularly during the fall and spring. This results in a greater likelihood of low-snow years and a declining snowpack, which can shift the timing of water availability and increase pressure on late-season water supplies.

Different scenarios can be selected to compare projected climate conditions and understand how impacts may change under different levels of future warming.

Select the desired spatial resolution for the climate data.

More Information Here: Data Documentation – WY-Adapt Future Climate

• 9 Kilometer Cell Size: Each grid cell covers an area of 9 km × 9 km.

Show or Hide: Select the eye icon to show or hide the climate layer on the map.

Transparency: Use the slider to adjust the transparency of the climate layer. Move the slider to make the layer more or less transparent.

Time Series
Shows each point’s values year by year. The solid line is observed climate from PRISM through the most recent complete water year (October–September). The dashed line is the projection from the selected GCM scenario, starting the year after. For Ensemble, the shaded band shows the 10th–90th percentile range across models. Hover over the chart to see every point’s value for that year and to change the map to that year.

Observed vs Future
Summarizes each point as two box plots: one for a span of observed years and one for a span of projected years. The box covers the middle half of the years (25th–75th percentile), the line inside is the median, and the whiskers show the spread of the rest. Use the sliders to choose which years go into each box. By default it’s the last 30 observed years and the next 30 projected years. Last 30 years and Next 30 years reset them.