climate data sources
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Climate Data Sources


Local, Regional and U.S. Climate Information

Climatological Data, National Climatic Data Center, 1890-
Monthly editions contain station daily maximum and minimum temperatures and precipitation. Some stations provide daily snowfall, snow depth, evaporation, and soil temperature data. Each issue also contains monthly summaries for heating and cooling degree days (65 degrees Fbase). The July issue also contains monthly heating degree days and snow data for the preceding July through June. The annual issue contains monthly and annual averages of temperature, precipitation, temperature extremes, freeze data, soil temperatures, evaporation, and a recap of monthly cooling degree days.

Daily Weather Maps, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Maps contain 500-Millibar Height Contours chart, the Highest and Lowest Temperatures chart, and the Precipitation Areas and Amounts chart. For each day, simple charts are arranged on a single page. These charts are the surface analysis of pressure and fronts, color shading, in ten degree intervals,of maximum and minimum temperature, 500-Millibar height contours, and color shaded 24-hour total precipitation. Pre-2004 maps can be found on-line through the NOAA Central Library U.S. Daily Weather Maps Project or in hard copy in The Schwerdtfeger Library.

Hourly Precipitation Data, National Climatic Data Center, 1951-
Contains hourly precipitation amounts obtained from recording rain gages located at National Weather Service, Federal Aviation Administration, and cooperative observer stations. Published data are displayed in inches to tenths or inches to hundredths at local standard time. HPD includes maximum precipitation for nine (9) time periods from 15 minutes to 24 hours, for selected stations.

Local Climatological Data (City), National Climatic Data Center, 1996-
Summarizes temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, cloudiness, wind speed and direction observations for several hundred cities in the U.S. and its territories. Check the Library Catalog for older issues in print.

Madison Climate Data from the NWS station at Truax Field, 1943-2008 (text file)
Headers for the columns are missing, but they should be (in this order): (year) (month) (day) (liquid precipitation) (low) (high) (snowfall) (snowdepth).

Storm Data, National Climatic Data Center, 1959-
Monthly issues contain a chronological listing, by states, of storm occurrences and unusual weather phenomena. Reports contain information on storm paths, deaths, injuries, and property damage. An "Outstanding storms of the month" section highlights severe weather events with photographs, illustrations, and narratives.

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Global Climate Information

Climate Data, Climatic Research Institute, University of East Anglia, UK
Datasets available for Temperature (5°x5° gridded versions), Precipitation (5°x5° and 2.5°x3.75° gridded versions), Pressure and Circulation Indices, UK Climate Indices, Mediterranean climate, High-resolution gridded datasets, NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis data, Paleoclimate

Climate Monitor Online, Climatic Research Institute, University of East Anglia, UK
Monthly weather summaries for the world, including important measures of the state of the atmosphere.

El Niño, La Niña and the Southern Oscillation, International Research Institute for Climate Prediction (IRI) Map Room, NOAA Office of Global Programs and Columbia University
Sea surface temperatures, thermocline, southern oscillation index, seasonal climate imacts, time series, bulletins.

Global Change Master Directory (GCMD), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
The GCMD database holds more than 15,000 descriptions of Earth science data sets and services covering all aspects of Earth and environmental sciences.

Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN), 1900-
Contains gridded precipitation anomalies calculated from the GHCN V2 monthly precipitation data set. 2064 homogeneity adjusted precipitation stations (from the U.S., Canada, and Former Soviet Union) were combined with a data set containing 20590 raw precipitation stations throughout the world to create these gridded fields. The data are formatted by year, month, latitude and longitude.

Global Monitoring Analyses, International Research Institute for Climate Prediction (IRI) Map Room, NOAA Office of Global Programs and Columbia University
Climatologies and Reports of precipitation, atmospheric circulation, atmospheric temperature and ocean temperature.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Monthly Climatic Data for the World, National Climatic Data Center, 1948-
Monthly issues contains monthly mean temperature, pressure, precipitation, vapor pressure, and sunshine for approximately 2,000 surface data collection stations worldwide and monthly mean upper air temperatures, dew point depressions, and wind Velocities for approximately 500 observing sites. This is the final quality controlled copy and generally has a 4 - 6 month time lag.

Regional Monitoring, International Research Institute for Climate Prediction (IRI) Map Room, NOAA Office of Global Programs and Columbia University
Regional monitoring of temperature, precipitation and atmospheric circulation for Africa, Asia, Australia, Central American, Europe, Middle East, North American, South America.

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Climate Offices and Centers

Climate Diagnostics Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Develops tools to analyze, interpret, and forecast important climate variations on time scales ranging from a few weeks to centuries.

Climate Prediction Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Weather Service
Climate highlights, assessments, outlooks, monitoring.

Midwestern Regional Climate Center (MRCC), National Climatic Data Center and Illinois State Water Survey
Serves the nine-state Midwest region (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin) with research to explain climate and its impacts on the Midwest.

National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
World's largest active archive of weather data. NCDC produces numerous climate publications. Most popular products include: Climatological Data, Local Climatological Data, Monthly Climatic Data for the World, Hourly Precipitation Data, annual temperature/precipitation/degree day maps, freeze/frost data, snow normals, extreme weather events, etc.

Wisconsin State Climatology Office , Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Wisconsin climate resources including: Wisconsin Climate Watch, Wisconsin Seasons and Climate History.

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Climate Links

Climate Related Links , Climate Research Unit, University of East Anglia, UK
FAQs, institutes (by country), organizations, involved with climate research and reporting.

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UW-MADISON