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Dataset Overview | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

U.S. Hourly Climate Normals (1981-2010)

Normals Hourly

browse graphicNOAA 1981-2010 U.S. Climate Normals
The U.S. Hourly Climate Normals for 1981 to 2010 are 30-year averages of meteorological parameters for thousands of U.S. stations located across the 50 states, as well as U.S. territories, commonwealths, the Compact of Free Association nations, and one station inCanada. 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. As many NWS stations as possible are used, including those from the NWS Cooperative Observer Program (COOP) Network as well as some additional stations that have a Weather Bureau Army-Navy (WBAN) station identification number, including stations from the Climate Reference Network (CRN). The comprehensive U.S. Climate Normals dataset includes various derived products including daily air temperature normals (including maximum and minimum temperature normal, heating and cooling degree day normal, and others), precipitation normals (including snowfall and snow depth, percentiles, frequencies and other), and hourly normals (all normal derived from hourly data including temperature, dew point, heat index, wind chill, wind, cloudiness, heating and cooling degree hours, pressure normals). Users can access the data either by product or by station. Included in the dataset is extensive documentation to describe station metadata, filename descriptions, and methodology of producing the data. All data utilized in the computation of the 1981-2010 Climate Normals were taken from the ISD Lite (a subset of derived Integrated Surface Data), the Global Historical Climatology Network-Daily dataset, and standardized monthly temperature data (COOP). These source datasets (including intermediate datasets used in the computation of products) are also archived at the NOAA NCDC.
  • 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:C00824
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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
Dataset Information
General Documentation
Processing Documents
  • Hourly Methodology
  • Addendum to the Methodology for the Hourly Climate Normals
    • Hourly Normals: Changes for 2014
      Document describes the methodology used in the generation of the 10-year Climate Normals (supplemental) and updates to the 30-year Climate Normals
Associated Resources
  • 1981-2010 U.S. Hourly Normals
    • 1981-2010 U.S. Hourly Normals (Science Paper)
      Scott Applequist, Anthony Arguez, Imke Durre, Michael F. Squires, Russell S. Vose, and Xungang Yin, 2012: 1981-2010 U.S. Hourly Normals. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 93, 1637-1640. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-11-00173.1
  • U.S. Climate Normals Product Suite (1981-2010)
Publication Dates
  • publication: 2011-07-01
  • revision: 2011-09-01
  • revision: 2012-08-04
  • revision: 2015-08-17
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
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. These Normals are intended to be used for applications requiring a hourly timescale.
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
  • User Engagement and Services Branch
    DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
Originators
  • User Engagement and Services Branch
    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 > 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
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
Processing Steps
  • For more information on the generation of the 1981-2010 Hourly 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.
  • 2015-08-17T00:00:00 - 2015-08-17 - 30-year Hourly Normals replaced. For more information, please refer to documentation.
Processing Documents
    • Addendum to the Methodology for the Hourly Climate Normals
      • Hourly Normals: Changes for 2014
        Document describes the methodology used in the generation of the 10-year Climate Normals (supplemental) and updates to the 30-year Climate Normals
Source Datasets
  • U.S. Climate Normals Product Suite (1981-2010)
    • U.S. Climate Normals Product Suite (1981-2010) Landing Page
      For more information about the entire suite of Climate Normals products and documentation, please view the Climate Normals Product Suite (1981-2010) Landing Page
    • Description of Source: More information about the Lineage and Source datasets used in the Climate Normals product can be found at the 1981-2010 Climate Normals Product Suite Landing Page
    • Temporal extent used: 1981-01-01 to 2010-12-31
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: 2023-08-10
For questions about the information on this page, please email: ncei.info@noaa.gov