This documentation describes the record format for the gridded data files on 
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/cirs/climgrid/normals/
that have the filenames:

YYYY.elem.area.pnt
area_elem_period.dat

Where:

YYYY = current year, previous year
elem = tave, tmax, tmin, prcp
area = ak, us
period = 1mo, 3mo, 6mo, ytd

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Gridded Monthly Values (*.pnt files)
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In these files, monthly maximum, minimum and mean temperature (deg. C. to 
100ths) and precipitation (mm to 100ths) are computed for each of the past 
13-24 months. The files are updated on a monthly basis and are based on the 
GHCN dataset using a 5km gridded approach. More information on the methodology 
of the dataset can be found here: 
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/monitoring-references/maps/us-climate-divisions.php#grdd

When the previous month's analysis is performed a new field is added to the 
file. Only the current and previous years months are updated. For instance, if 
the current month is February, each month of the previous year would be 
updated with new or late arriving data. Also, a new set of files with the 
current year included in the file name would be added to the directory and it 
would contain the current year's January values in Field 3. During the 
following month (March) Field 4 would be populated with the values for February.
When a new year is added to the directory the data files from 2 years prior 
would no longer be updated thus removed from the directory. 


Format:

Field 1  Latitude
Field 2  Longitude
Field 3-14  Month Value


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Gridded Seasonal Calculations (*.dat files)
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In these files, monthly, seasonal and year-to-date (YTD) maximum, minimum and 
mean temperature (deg. F. to 100ths) and precipitation (inches to 10000ths) are 
computed for each of the past 1, 3, 6 months and YTD periods. Also computed is 
the anomaly, rank and category. The precipitation files have an additional field 
for percent of normal. The anomalies and percent of normals use a base period of 
1901-2000. The rank maps (percentiles) use a base period of 1895-present.

Temperature Format:

Field 1  Latitude
Field 2  Longitude
Field 3  Value
Field 4  Anomaly
Field 5  Rank* (where: 1 = coldest, T = tie)
Field 6  Category* (Percentile Rank where: 
1 = coldest, 2 and 6 = lowest and uppermost decile, 3-5 = bottom, middle, 
and upper terciles, and 7 = warmest)

Precipitation Format:

Field 1  Latitude
Field 2  Longitude
Field 3  Value
Field 4  Anomaly
Field 5  Percent of Normal
Field 6  Rank* (where: 1 = driest, T = tie)
Field 7  Category* (Percentile Rank where:
(1 = driest, 2 and 6 = lowest and uppermost decile, 3-5 = bottom, middle, 
and upper terciles, and 7 = wettest)

*additional information on NCEI's ranking methods can be found here:
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/dyk/ranking-definition