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Dataset Overview | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

Daily Weather Records

These daily weather records were compiled from a subset of stations in the Global Historical Climatological Network (GHCN)-Daily dataset. A weather record is considered broken if the value exceeds the maximum (or minimum) value recorded for an eligible station. A weather record is considered tied if the value is the same as the maximum (or minimum) value recorded for an eligible station. Daily weather parameters include Highest Min/Max Temperature, Lowest Min/Max Temperature, Highest Precipitation, Highest Snowfall and Highest Snow Depth. All stations meet defined eligibility criteria. For this application, a station is defined as the complete daily weather records at a particular location, having a unique identifier in the GHCN-Daily dataset. For a station to be considered for any weather parameter, it must have a minimum of 30 years of data with more than 182 days complete in each year. This is effectively a 30-year record of service requirement, but allows for inclusion of some stations which routinely shut down during certain seasons. Small station moves, such as a move from one property to an adjacent property, may occur within a station history. However, larger moves, such as a station moving from downtown to the city airport, generally result in the commissioning of a new station identifier. This tool treats each of these histories as a different station. In this way, it does not thread the separate histories into one record for a city. Records Timescales are characterized in three ways. In order of increasing noteworthiness, they are Daily Records, Monthly Records and All Time Records. For a given station, Daily Records refers to the specific calendar day: (e.g., the value recorded on March 7th compared to every other March 7th). Monthly Records exceed all values observed within the specified month (e.g., the value recorded on March 7th compared to all values recorded in every March). All-Time Records exceed the record of all observations, for any date, in a station's period of record. The Date Range and Location features are used to define the time and location ranges which are of interest to the user. For example, selecting a date range of March 1, 2012 through March 15, 2012 will return a list of records broken or tied on those 15 days. The Location Category and Country menus allow the user to define the geographic extent of the records of interest. For example, selecting Oklahoma will narrow the returned list of records to those that occurred in the state of Oklahoma, USA. The number of records broken for several recent periods is summarized in the table and updated daily. Due to late-arriving data, the number of recent records is likely underrepresented in all categories, but the ratio of records (warm to cold, for example) should be a fairly strong estimate of a final outcome. There are many more precipitation stations than temperature stations, so the raw number of precipitation records will likely exceed the number of temperature records in most climatic situations.
Cite this dataset when used as a source.
  • gov.noaa.ncdc:C00781
gov.noaa.ncdc:C00781
Search Data
Distribution Formats
  • XML
  • HTML
Ordering Instructions Contact NCEI for other distribution options and instructions.
Distributor NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
ncei.info@noaa.gov
Dataset Point of Contact Customer Engagement Branch
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
1-828-271-4800
ncei.orders@noaa.gov
Dataset Point of Contact Rich Baldwin
Climate Data Online (CDO) Team Lead
DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
+1 828-271-4800
ncei.orders@noaa.gov
Time Period 1870 to Present (time interval: 1-day)
Spatial Bounding Box Coordinates
West: -180.0
East: 180.0
South: -90.0
North: 90.0
Spatial Coverage Map
General Documentation
Publication Dates
  • publication: 2013-12-01
Edition 1.0
Data Presentation Form Digital table - digital representation of facts or figures systematically displayed, especially in columns
Dataset Progress Status Ongoing - data is continually being updated
Data Update Frequency Daily
Purpose The Daily Weather Records application provides media outlets and other users a quick summary of recent and historical records set in the US and globally. These records are based on the GHCN-Daily dataset.
Cited Authors
  • DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
Originators
  • DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
Publishers
  • DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
  • DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
Theme keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords
  • Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature > Air Temperature
  • Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature > Maximum/Minimum Temperature
  • Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature
  • Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Precipitation Amount
  • Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Solid Precipitation > Snow
  • Earth Science > Terrestrial Hydrosphere > Snow/Ice > Snow Depth
Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Essential Climate Variables (ECVs)
  • Atmospheric - Surface - Air Temperature
  • Terrestrial - Snow Cover
  • Atmospheric - Surface - Precipitation
Data Center keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Data Center Keywords
  • DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
  • DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
Place keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords
  • Geographic Region > Global Land
Data Resolution keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Horizontal Data Resolution Keywords
  • Point Resolution
Stratum keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords
  • Vertical Location > Land Surface
Use Constraints
  • Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
Access Constraints
  • Distribution liability: NOAA and NCEI make no warranty, expressed or implied, regarding these data, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA and NCEI cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data. If appropriate, NCEI can only certify that the data it distributes are an authentic copy of the records that were accepted for inclusion in the NCEI archives.
Fees
  • In most cases, electronic downloads of the data are free. However, fees may apply for custom orders, data certifications, copies of analog materials, and data distribution on physical media.
Lineage information for: repository
Processing Steps
  • 2015-04-22T00:00:00 - NOAA created the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) by merging NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), and National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), including the National Coastal Data Development Center (NCDDC), per the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, Public Law 113-235. NCEI launched publicly on April 22, 2015.
Last Modified: 2023-06-23
For questions about the information on this page, please email: ncei.info@noaa.gov