What's New on the PRISM Portal

New features are added to this public portal on a regular basis, always on the last day of the month. This page lists the most recent additions or changes so you can make sure you haven't missed any. The most recent entries appear at the top.

  • (23 February 2024) Our public web service now supports downloading of PRISM grids in netCDF, Grib2, and ASCII Grid raster data formats, in addition to the standard BIL raster data format. View the web services documentation in the Data Downloads section for further information.
  • (01 February 2024) Daily normals (1991-2020) for ppt, tmax, tmin, tdmean, vpdmax, and vpdmin, version D1, are now available. These are daily versions of the monthly normals. Visit our Normals section for access to the daily normals, including map animations.
  • (01 February 2024) A limited update to the 1991-2020 PRISM monthly and annual normals (M5) for tmax, tmin, tmean, tdmean, vpdmax, and vpdmin has been made (ppt monthly normals remain at version M4). Changes made to the previous 1991-2020 normals (M4) released in November 2021 involve adjustments to a limited number of grid cells along the US West Coast to align with the recently developed daily normals.
  • (16 March 2023) Our new web-based Daily Map Graphics Generator has been released. This tool allows users to generate up to a month's worth of daily map graphics at a time, on-the-fly, for any PRISM climate variable from 1981 to present. Map graphics are always generated from the most up-to-date PRISM datasets. The tool also provides the option of including an animation (MP4 format) of the generated map graphics.
  • (15 December 2022) A new version of the PRISM 1991-2020 normals has been released. Version M4, released in December 2022, incorporates a more stable method for adjusting short-period-of-record station averages, as well as additional data quality control measures. Please note that version M4 supersedes version M3. The normals can be found in the Normals section, and are also available via FTP and web services. Specific dataset information is available in our updated datasets document.
  • (15 December 2022) Annual precipitation maps for all 48 states were recently updated for the 1991-2020 30-year normal period. The updated state maps can be viewed and downloaded in our Gallery of State Maps.
  • (01 December 2021) New PRISM 30-year climate normals (including our new solar normals) covering the period 1991-2020 have been released in the Normals section, and are also available via FTP and web services. Specific dataset information is available in our updated datasets document.
  • (01 December 2021) The AN daily and monthly time series datasets for all elements will commence using the new Norm91 (1991-2020) normals as predictor grids (replacing the 1981-2010 normals) starting on January 1, 2021. See our related data notice for more details.
  • (28 October 2021) Now that most users download PRISM data in BIL format, we will stop producing data in ASCII GRID format as of January 1, 2022. See our related data notice for more details.
  • (03 August 2020) PRISM daily and monthly grids were recently updated for several months in 2019, after a number of stations in North Dakota and Nebraska were found to be mis-located. Periods affected are May-September 2019 for precipitation, and April-December 2019 for all other variables. Resulting changes in the gridded data were minor.
  • (31 March 2020) A new announcements-only, opt-in mailing list was created to provide important information about updates or changes made to PRISM weather and climate data. Frequency of messages is expected to be limited to a few per year.
  • (29 Oct 2019) A new dataset version for tmin, tmax, tmean, tdmean, vpdmin and vpdmax was completed in October 2019. This affects the entire 1895-present monthly time series (now M3) and 1981-present daily time series (now D2). See this data update notice for more details.
  • (30 May 2019) Added average monthly and annual precipitation and minimum, maximum, and mean temperature data for the period 1961-1990 to the Projects section, for the Western Canada region
  • (11 Dec 2018) Added average monthly and annual precipitation and minimum, maximum, and mean temperature data for the period 1981-2010 to the Projects section, for the state of Alaska
  • (31 Aug 2017) Added ability to batch download data for multiple points/sites (and multiple climate variables) via a single request using the Data Explorer Bulk Download tool
  • (31 May 2017) Added ability to query/download multiple climate variables at a time using the Data Explorer
  • (31 May 2017) Modified the Recent Years section to include the "provisional annual" grid (i.e., the annual grid from the prior year, before it is considered fully stable). The provisional annual grid is also now available in the Data Explorer
  • (21 Feb 2017) Certain precipitation grids have been reprocessed to fix a consistency issue where post-processing to align daily and monthly values was not occurring. Periods affected are June 1-30, 2015 (daily ppt), and Dec 2015 - Apr 2016 (monthly ppt). See this data update notice for more details.
  • (31 Jan 2017) Replaced previous "Gallery" with new Projects section hosting maps and data that were originally proprietary, but have now been released for public use. Includes the Plant Hardiness Zone data we developed for USDA
  • (31 Aug 2016) Released vapor pressure deficit minimum/maximum (vpdmin/vpdmax) data. Vapor pressure deficit minimum and maximum are now available at daily (1981 forward), monthly (1895 forward), and annual (1895 forward) time scales, and are also available in the Data Explorer
  • (31 May 2016) Released mean dew point temperature (tdmean) data. Mean dew point temperature is now available at daily (1981 forward), monthly (1895 forward), and annual (1895 forward) time scales, and is also available in the Data Explorer
  • (30 Jun 2015) Updated PRISM datasets document, available from each section
  • (30 Jun 2015) Released new precipitation versions (1981 onward): daily and monthly values now reconcile at the end of each month
  • (30 Jun 2015) Updated PRISM datasets document, available from each section
  • (28 Feb 2015) Added Data Explorer tool to analyze time-series data for a single location
  • (28 Feb 2015) Added "provisional" (likely to change) version of 2014 annual summary data on PRISM ftp site
  • (28 Feb 2015) Added new page featuring publications about PRISM
  • (31 Jan 2015) Incorporated "preview" version of 2014 annual summary data to Comparisons section; this data is reflected in both Drought Indicator and Anomalies pages
  • (31 Dec 2014) Updated PRISM datasets document available from each section
  • (31 Dec 2014) Added 30-Year Normals for 3 new humidity variables: mean dewpoint temperature, minimum vapor pressure deficit, maximum vapor pressure deficit
  • (31 Dec 2014) Made elevation data available, on 30-Year Normals page
  • (31 Oct 2014) Implemented Data Update Calendar to provide specifics on when each dataset from the "provisional" period (most recent 6 months) was last updated
  • (30 Sept 2014) Added Drought Indicator Tool showing how precipitation over a selected window of time since 1990 deviates from long-term averages
  • (31 Aug 2014) Incorporated a station inventory as part of every data package
  • (31 Aug 2014) Updated Frequently Asked Questions to describe where to find the new station data and state images
  • (31 Jul 2014) Added Gallery of state map images