Skip to main content
Dataset Overview | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

U.S. Climate Normals Product Suite (1981-2010)

browse graphicNOAA 1981-2010 U.S. Climate Normals
The NOAA Climate Normals are a large suite of data products that provide users with many tools to understand typical climate conditions for thousands of locations across the United States, including the 30-year normals, 5, 10, 15, 20-year normals, agricultural normals, and others. For nearly 100 years, the 30-year NOAA Climate Normals have been a premier NOAA product of 30-year-averages of meteorological parameters. The 1981-2010 Climate Normals Product Suite has been expanded to meet more user needs and requirements spanning many different industries, including agriculture, heating and cooling, construction, and others. To ensure both quality and completeness, hundreds of NWS stations meeting stringent criteria are used, including those from NWS's Cooperative Observer Program (COOP) Network, some additional stations are included in the Supplemental Climate Normals for 1981-2010.
  • Cite as: Anthony Arguez, Imke Durre, Scott Applequist, Mike Squires, Russell Vose, Xungang Yin, and Rocky Bilotta (2010). NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals (1981-2010). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. DOI:10.7289/V5PN93JP [access date].
gov.noaa.ncdc:C00820
Search Data
  • Annual/Seasonal Climate Normals (search)
    More information about the Annual/Seasonal Climate Normals Products accessible through Climate Data Online.
  • Monthly Climate Normals (search)
    More information about the Monthly Climate Normals Products accessible through Climate Data Online.
  • Daily Climate Normals (search)
    More information about the Daily Climate Normals Products accessible through Climate Data Online.
  • Hourly Climate Normals (search)
    More information about the Hourly Climate Normals Products accessible through Climate Data Online.
  • Supplemental Climate Normals (search)
    More information about the Supplemental Climate Normals Products, including documentation specific to the Supplemental Products.
Download Data
Distribution Formats
  • CSV
  • TSV
  • fixed-length ASCII text
  • ArcGIS
  • KMZ
  • PDF
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
Time Period 1981-01-01 to 2010-12-31
Spatial Bounding Box Coordinates
West: 172.0
East: -65.0
South: 15.0
North: 72.0
Spatial Coverage Map
General Documentation
Processing Documents
Associated Resources
Publication Dates
  • publication: 2011-07-01
  • revision: 2011-09-01
  • revision: 2012-08-04
  • revision: 2013-01-02
  • revision: 2015-08-17
  • revision: 2011-08-21
Data Presentation Form Digital table - digital representation of facts or figures systematically displayed, especially in columns
Dataset Progress Status Complete - production of the data has been completed
Data Update Frequency As needed
Supplemental Information
Includes Supplemental Normals released 2012-10-15
Purpose Climate Normals are a suite of products that provide users with the means to understand typical climate conditions for thousands of locations across the United States.
Dataset Citation
  • Cite as: Anthony Arguez, Imke Durre, Scott Applequist, Mike Squires, Russell Vose, Xungang Yin, and Rocky Bilotta (2010). NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals (1981-2010). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. DOI:10.7289/V5PN93JP [access date].
Cited Authors
  • Arguez, Anthony
  • Durre, Imke
  • Applequist, Scott
  • Squires, Mike
  • Vose, Russell
  • Yin, Xungang
  • Bilotta, Rocky
Publishers
  • 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 > Maximum/Minimum Temperature
  • Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature
  • Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Temperature Anomalies
  • Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Precipitation Amount
  • Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Precipitation Anomalies
  • Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Liquid Precipitation > Rain
  • Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Degree Days
  • Earth Science > Agriculture
  • Earth Science > Atmosphere > Weather Events > Freeze/Frost
  • Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Phenomena > Frost
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
Platform keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Platform Keywords
  • Meteorological Stations
Instrument keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Instrument Keywords
  • Thermometers
  • Rain Gauges
Place keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords
  • Puerto Rico
  • Continent > North America > United States Of America
  • Virgin Islands
Data Resolution keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Horizontal Data Resolution Keywords
  • Point Resolution
Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Vertical Data Resolution Keywords
  • Point Resolution
Stratum keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords
  • Vertical Location > Land Surface
Use Constraints
  • Cite as: Anthony Arguez, Imke Durre, Scott Applequist, Mike Squires, Russell Vose, Xungang Yin, and Rocky Bilotta (2010). NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals (1981-2010). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. DOI:10.7289/V5PN93JP [access date].
  • 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: dataset
Lineage Statement NOAA's 1981-2010 Climate Normals are the newest iteration of the U.S. Climate Normals. Though previous versions of the normals are still available from the archive, the 1981-2010 Climate Normals should be used for all current applications. Computation of the NOAA Climate Normals is in accordance with the recommendation of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), of which the United States is a member. While the WMO mandates each member nation to compute 30-year averages of meteorological quantities at least every 30 years (1931 - 1960, 1961 - 1990, 1991 - 2020, etc.), the WMO recommends a decadal update, in part to incorporate newer weather stations. Further, the NOAA NCDC has a responsibility to fulfill the mandate of Congress "... to establish and record the climatic conditions of the United States." This responsibility stems from a provision of the Organic Act of October 1, 1890, which established the Weather Bureau as a civilian agency (15 U.S.C. 311).
Processor
  • DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
  • DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
  • DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
  • DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
  • DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
  • DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
  • DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
Processing Steps
  • For more information on the generation of the 1981-2010 Climate Normals, please see associated documentation.
  • 2011-07-01T00:00:00 - 2011-07-01 - 1981-2010 Climate Normals released.
  • 2011-09-01T00:00:00 - 2011-09-01 - Precipitation values for 30-year Climate Normals replaced. For more information, please refer to documentation.
  • 2012-08-04T00:00:00 - 2012-08-04 - Service Pack 1 for 30-year Climate Normals released. For more information, please refer to documentation.
  • 2013-01-02T00:00:00 - 2013-01-02 - Agricultural Supplemental Climate Normals released. This includes growing degree days, probabilities of first and last frost and freeze events, probabilities of occurrence of minimum temperature thresholds, and growing season length probabilities. For more information, please refer to documentation.
  • 2015-08-17T00:00:00 - 2015-08-17 - 30-year Hourly Normals replaced and two new Supplemental products released: the 10-year Hourly Normals and the Air Freezing Index Product. For more information, please refer to documentation.
  • 2015-08-21T00:00:00 - 2015-08-21 - Service Pack 2 for the 30-year Climate Normals released. For more information, please refer to documentation.
Processing Documents
Source Datasets
  • ISD-Lite
    • ISD-Lite
      A snapshot of ISD-Lite was taken in order for users to reproduce the files. Please click the link to download the data file.
    • Description of Source: ISD-Lite is a subset of the Integrated Surface Dataset, available at NCDC. Read here for more information about the full ISD dataset - http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/isd
    • Temporal extent used: 1981-01-01 to 2010-12-31
  • Global Historical Climatology Network - Daily (GHCN-Daily), Version 3
    • Global Historical Climatology Network - Daily (GHCN-Daily), Version 3
      A snapshot of GHCN-D was taken in order for users to reproduce the files. Please click the link to download the data file.
    • Description of Source: The Global Historical Climatology Network - Daily (GHCN-Daily) dataset. For more information about the GHCN-D dataset, please read here - http://doi.org/10.7289/V5D21VHZ
    • Temporal extent used: 1981-01-01 to 2010-12-31
  • All Source Datasets for NCDC Climate Normals
    • All Source Datasets for NCEI Climate Normals
      All available source data is available from this link, including associated documentation for standalone and interim datasets.
    • Description of Source: In addition to standalone products such as GHCN-D and ISD-Lite, interim datasets were produced during the generation of the Climate Normals. For convenience, these interim data collections are available. Please review documentation for more information.
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.
Acquisition Information (collection)
Instrument
  • RAIN GAUGES
  • THERMOMETERS
Platform
  • METEOROLOGICAL STATIONS
Last Modified: 2023-12-13
For questions about the information on this page, please email: ncei.info@noaa.gov