The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) has recently completed several major projects which produced datasets consisting of large quantities of data and summary statistics. This information has been added to the official TD-9641 digital archives and is also available for purchase on CD-ROM.
This paper describes the CD-ROM's for the following normals and climatology projects:
1. 1961-1990 WMO Global Climate Normals
Normals statistics for over 4400 stations were modified by over 130 World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Member countries and territories. The data are presented in fixed length record ASCII data files, as well as eye-readable user-friendly ASCII table files. The CD-ROM also includes station metadata (WMO identification number, name, latitude, longitude, and elevation) and, for some countries, narrative metadata.
2. U.S. Snow Climatology
This CD-ROM contains snowfall and snow depth statistics generated by three separate projects: (I) Production of Snowfall and Snow Depth Climatologies for NWS Cooperative Observer Sites; (ii) Snowfall Extremes and Return Period Statistics for the Contiguous United States and Alaska; and (iii) 1961-1990 Snowfall and Snow Depth Normals. The statistics are presented in fixed length record ASCII data files, as well as eye-readable user-friendly ASCII table files. Station metadata and quality control/inventory statistics are also included.
3. U.S. Divisional and Station Climatic Data and Normals
This CD-ROM contains climate normals for U.S. stations and climatic divisions for the periods 1931-1960, 1941-1970, 1951- 1980, and 1961-1990. These normals previously have been issued in the Climatography of the U.S. (CLIM20, CLIM81, CLIM84, CLIM85) and Historical Climatology Series (4-1, 4-2, 5-1, and 5-2) publications. The data are presented in fixed length record ASCII data files.