D. R. Easterling, T. R. Karl, J. H. Lawrimore, and S. A. Del Greco, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), Asheville, North Carolina
Prepared by Dale P. Kaiser and Linda J. Allison, CDIAC
NDP-070 (1999) (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/epubs/ndp/ndp070/ndp070.html)
Not only an update, but an expansion of the original 138-station database previously released by CDIAC as NDP-042 in 1992, this database contains daily observations of maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation amount, snowfall amount, and snow depth from 1062 observing stations across the contiguous United States. The 1062 stations in NDP-070 are a subset of the 1221-station U.S. Historical Climatology Network (HCN), the monthly database compiled at NCDC and distributed by CDIAC, that has been widely used in analyzing U.S. climate. Data from 1050 of the NDP-070 daily records extend into the 1990s, while 990 of these extend through 1997. Most station records are essentially complete for at least 40 years; the latest beginning year of record is 1948. Records from 158 stations begin prior to 1900, with that of Charleston, South Carolina beginning the earliest (1871).
The daily resolution of these data makes them extremely valuable for studies attempting to detect and monitor long- term climatic changes on a regional scale. Studies using daily data may be able to detect changes in regional climate that would not be apparent from analysis of monthly temperature and precipitation data. Such studies may include analyses of trends in maximum and minimum temperatures, temperature extremes, daily temperature range, precipitation "event size" frequency, and the magnitude and duration of wet and dry periods. The data are also valuable in areas such as regional climate model validation and climate change impact assessment.
kng 09/99