World WeatherDisc

World WeatherDisc contains meteorological data on the climate of the Earth both recently and during the past several hundred years. The data is acquired from the National Climatic Data Center and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the two main depositories of weather information in the United States. World WeatherDisc can be searched in all the science units of the UW Libraries and several other branch libraries.

Searchable Data Sets
Getting Started	World Data Sets Stations	United States Data Sets Stations
Displaying Data	Printing Data	Exporting Data

SEARCHABLE DATA SETS

World WeatherDisc is divided into seven data sets:

Data Set
Coverage
Description

1. World Monthly Surface Station Climatology

Data for 3,293 stations from around the globe.

Includes time series of monthly mean temperature and precipitation, sea level pressure and station pressure. Since many of the stations go back at least a century, this would be a good data set to determine how the climate has changed over an extended period of time for a particular location.

2. World Airfield Climatological Summaries

Data for 5717 airport locations worldwide.

Monthly summaries about weather and climate at locations around the world including temperature, precipitation, thunderstorms, wind and humidity.

3. U.S. Monthly Normals

Data for 6663 stations throughout the United States

Includes temperature and precipitation information. The mean values in this database are based on the period from 1951 through 1980.

4. U.S. Monthly Climatic Summaries

Data for 1,862 stations throughout the United States

Includes monthly means and extremes of temperatures and precipitation for the period between 1951-1980.

5. U.S. Local Climatological Summaries

Data for 286 primary stations throughout the United States

Parameters include temperature, precipitation, wind, relative humidity, and clear/cloudy days.

6. U.S. Monthly Climatic Division Data

Covers 350 divisions of the United States

Contains monthly-averaged temperature, precipitation and four Palmer drought indices from 1895-1992.

7. U.S. Daily Weather Observations

Data for 222 stations throughout the United States

The database contains daily values of maximum and minimum temperature, total daily precipitation and snowfall. States are arranged alphabetically. Note: Hawaii and Alaska are at the end of the list. After selecting station, select month and year to review.

GETTING STARTED

Select World WeatherDisc from the databases menu.
Type the number corresponding to the data set you want and press Enter.

WORLD DATA SETS STATIONS

To select a continent, type the number corresponding to the continent you want and press Enter.
To move in the country or station lists, use the arrow keys to scroll up/down the list one entry at a time.
Use the Page Up or Page Down keys to move up or down the list on page at a time.
The entries are not always in alphabetical order. Be sure to scroll the entire list.

UNITED STATES DATA SETS STATIONS

Choose the desired state by typing the state’s two letter abbreviation.
A list of stations will appear.
Scroll the list by using the arrow keys to move one entry at a time.

DISPLAYING DATA

Data can be displayed in various formats depending on the data set and type of information provided. For example, data can be displayed in graphs or numerically. The information can also be displayed annually or month by month. The screen will prompt you with the available displays for each data set.

PRINTING DATA

World WeatherDisc does not have a print function.
To print data, use the Print Screen key on the keyboard. It is located near the F12 key.
Only one page at a time will print, therefore you will need to print each screen separately.

EXPORTING (DOWNLOADING) DATA

Only Data Sets 1, 6 and 7 have downloading capability:

1. World Monthly Surface Station Climatology.

At the view screen choose export. The screen will ask you for a path name (e.g., a:\data.txt) Then specify whether to close the file or leave it open.

6. United States Monthly Climatic Division Data.

At the Viewing menu select X to export selected data to a disk. Give the file a name (e.g., a:\data.txt)

7. United States Daily Weather Data .

After selecting month and year, type E to export station to a disk. Give the file a name (e.g., a:\data.txt).

Natural Sciences Library / natsci@u.washington.edu
University of Washington

July 1997

Data Set	Coverage	Description
1. World Monthly Surface Station Climatology	Data for 3,293 stations from around the globe.	Includes time series of monthly mean temperature and precipitation, sea level pressure and station pressure. Since many of the stations go back at least a century, this would be a good data set to determine how the climate has changed over an extended period of time for a particular location.
2. World Airfield Climatological Summaries	Data for 5717 airport locations worldwide.	Monthly summaries about weather and climate at locations around the world including temperature, precipitation, thunderstorms, wind and humidity.
3. U.S. Monthly Normals	Data for 6663 stations throughout the United States	Includes temperature and precipitation information. The mean values in this database are based on the period from 1951 through 1980.
4. U.S. Monthly Climatic Summaries	Data for 1,862 stations throughout the United States	Includes monthly means and extremes of temperatures and precipitation for the period between 1951-1980.
5. U.S. Local Climatological Summaries	Data for 286 primary stations throughout the United States	Parameters include temperature, precipitation, wind, relative humidity, and clear/cloudy days.
6. U.S. Monthly Climatic Division Data	Covers 350 divisions of the United States	Contains monthly-averaged temperature, precipitation and four Palmer drought indices from 1895-1992.
7. U.S. Daily Weather Observations	Data for 222 stations throughout the United States	The database contains daily values of maximum and minimum temperature, total daily precipitation and snowfall. States are arranged alphabetically. Note: Hawaii and Alaska are at the end of the list. After selecting station, select month and year to review.