These two maps were produced using data retrieved from NOAA Climate Data Online. Two CSV data files were downloaded that contained monthly average high temperature values for January and August from 423 weather stations throughout California. These data points were imported into ArcGIS Pro and analyzed using the Empirical Bayesian Kriging method within the Geostatistical Wizard tool. This generated a continuous surface of estimated temperature values based on the known values at each weather station. After adjusting the range and color scheme for this layer, the background 'heat map' was complete, but I also wanted to extract estimated high temperatures for several cities in the state. I first used the GA Layer to Raster tool to convert the geostatistical layer produced by the wizard to a raster. I then added a polygon layer downloaded from the U.S. Census Bureau of populated places in California. The Zonal Statistics as Table tool was then used to calculate the average high temperature value for each populated place polygon. I chose to include the cities with the highest and lowest temperature for each month, as well as a few other cities in the state to provide some geographic range.

Tools: ArcGIS Pro (XY Table to Point, Geostatistical Wizard (Empirical Bayesian Kriging), GA Layer to Raster, Zonal Statistics as Table)

Data Sources: NOAA Climate Data Online, U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line

April 2022