Gridded coverages based on PRISM climate data were used to calculate departure of mean temperature and total precipitation for winter, spring, summer, and fall seasons for the recent 5-year period (2018-2022) as compared with previous years (1900-2017) in the historical record. Data were summarized at the Subsection scale of the USFS National Hierarchy of Ecological Units and applied to the corresponding landscape (LTA).

Direct Download (Raster Data Gateway)

Objective: Characterize climate departures for the most recent 5 years as compared with the historical record, identifying locations where recent conditions indicate a significant change from the historical baseline.

Data: Gridded coverages based on PRISM climate data were used to calculate departure of precipitation in winter (Dec. – Feb.), spring (Mar. – May), summer (Jun. – Aug.), and fall (Sep. – Nov.) for the recent 5-year period as compared with previous years in the historical record. Data were summarized at the Subsection scale of the USFS National Hierarchy of Ecological Units and applied to the corresponding landscape (LTA). There is a one-year lag between the most recent available PRISM data and the TCA Assessment year, for example, the 2024 TCA Assessment used 2019-2023 data for the most recent time period, and 1900-2018 data for the historical baseline.

Data Format: Raster data are continuous;

Units: Inches

Spatial Resolution: 4000m (4km)

Source data: PRISM

Additional Resources:

Details on Method Changes and Source Data Versions

Overview of the Terrestrial Condition Assessment: TCA Hubsite or Landfire Office Hour Presentation

Explore the results of the most recent assessment: TCA Interactive Data Viewer

Learn more about the TCA KPI: TCA Dashboard

*if you have trouble viewing the Dashboard, please submit a Tableau Viewer Access Request