Source: http://dss.ucar.edu/datasets/ds885.

1/data/ (requires a login, which is

free)

Files included are:

srn_tmp.txt (temperature data)
srn_pcp.txt (precipitation data)
srn_pdsi.txt (drought data)

TIME BIAS CORRECTED

STATEWIDE-REGIONAL-NATIONAL
TEMPERATURE-PRECIPITATION

THE STATEWIDE, REGIONAL, AND NATIONAL DATA

The major parameters in this file are sequential statewide, regional, and
national monthly precipitation and monthly "time bias corrected" average
temperature. The period of record is 1895 through the latest month available.
This file is provided online and is updated monthly. The data in this file are
used for historical perspectives in the CLIMATE VARIATIONS BULLETIN (Historical
Climatology Series 4-7).

The monthly values for the most recent one to two years are based on
preliminary data and will change when the final data are analyzed.

The statewide values are available for the 48 contiguous States and are
computed from the divisional values weighted by area. The regional values are
computed from the statewide values weighted by area (as defined by T.R. Karl
and W.J. Koss, 1984: Historical Climatology Series 4-3: Regional and National
Monthly, Seasonal and Annual Temperature Weighted by Area, 1895-1983). The
states and area weights for each region are as follows:

Northeast Region: CT, 0.02752; DE, 0.01130; ME, 0.18251; MD, 0.05812;
MA, 0.04537; NH, 0.05112; NJ, 0.04306; NY, 0.27242;
PA, 0.24910; RI, 0.00667; VT, 0.05280

East North Central Region: IA, 0.22098; MI, 0.22854; MN, 0.33003;
WI, 0.22045

Central Region: IL, 0.18169; IN, 0.11691; KY, 0.13013; MO, 0.22449;
OH, 0.13279; TN, 0.13609; WV, 0.07790

Southeast Region: AL, 0.17576; FL, 0.19944; GA, 0.20051; NC, 0.17952;
SC, 0.10576; VA, 0.13900

West North Central Region: MT, 0.31307; NE, 0.16432; ND, 0.15035;
SD, 0.16393; WY, 0.20833

South Region: AR, 0.09335; KS, 0.14461; LA, 0.08530; MS, 0.08388;
OK, 0.12291; TX, 0.46995

Southwest Region: AZ, 0.26819; CO, 0.24544; NM, 0.28645; UT, 0.19993

Northwest Region: ID, 0.33593; OR, 0.38990; WA, 0.27416

West Region: CA, 0.58943; NV, 0.41057

National (contiguous U.S.) values are computed from the regional values
weighted by area. The regional weights are as follows:
 Northeast, 0.06021 East North Central, 0.08428 Central, 0.10271
Southeast, 0.09715 West North Central, 0.15551 South, 0.18822
Southwest, 0.14053 Northwest, 0.08230 West, 0.08908

The values in this file may not agree with statewide, regional, and
national values published in other NCDC publications due to: (1) differences
in the way the regions are defined, (2) the temperature data are adjusted for
time of observation bias, and (3) the most recent months are based on
preliminary data.

DISCUSSION OF THE DIVISIONAL VALUES

Monthly averages within a climatic division have been calculated by giving

equal weight to stations reporting both temperature and precipitation within a
division. In the U.S., observers at cooperative stations often take one
observation per day, and the ending time of the climatological day at any
station can vary from station-to-station as well as year-to-year. Differences
of the 24-hour period over which each observer reports his or her maximum and
minimum temperature as well as the average temperature [(max + min)/2] affects
the calculated monthly mean temperature. Karl, et al. (1986), describe the
biases that this introduces. These potential biases were rectified by
adjusting for these varying observation times. The model described by Karl,
et al. (1986), was used to adjust the climate division averages such that all
stations end their climatological day at midnight; i.e., climatological day
coincides with calendar day. The time of observation was determined at each
station within a climate division during January of the years 1931, 1941, 1951,
1965, 1975, and 1984 for the states of California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana,
New York, North Carolina, and Washington. The fraction of observers recording
at various hours of the day was calculated and interpolated for intervening
years (extrapolated for subsequent years). For these seven states, the ending
time of observation was grouped into three categories: AM, PM, and MD. The AM
category included observers who ended their climatological day between 3 AM and
11 AM; the PM category between noon and 9 PM; and the MD category between 10 PM
and 2 AM; all local standard time. The fraction of observers in these
categories was calculated, and it was assumed the 7 AM observation time best
represented the AM category; the 5 PM observation time, the PM category; and
midnight for the MD category. The reason for the simplification was to test
if a faster method, requiring significantly less bookkeeping and keypunching,
could not provide nearly as good results as calculating the fraction of
observers at each of the 24 hours of the day.

The time of observation bias model was run by using the latitude and
longitude of each of the centroids of the climate divisions. The output from
the model was the time of observation bias, with respect to a midnight-to-
midnight climatological day, for each of the possible ending hours of the
climatological day. Each climate division's monthly average was then adjusted
by weighting the bias at any given hour by the fraction of stations within the
climate division observing at that hour, and subtracting the result for the
reported monthly mean temperature.

Differences of the biases were small (< 0.3 Deg. F.) for those calculated
by categorizing the ending time of observation into three categories compared
to those obtained from calculating the fraction of stations with observation
times at each of the 24 hours of the day. This is attributed to the
preponderance of AM observation times falling between 6 AM and 9 AM, and PM
observation times falling between 4 PM and 7 PM. As a result, by assuming 7 AM
observation for all AM stations and 5 PM for all PM stations, a good estimate
of the median bias is obtained for all AM or PM observations. Furthermore,
nearly all the MD stations observed at midnight.

It should also be noted that the borders of the climate divisions in 1951
were not consistent with those defined in 1965. Due to the substantial
additional effort it would have required locating each station within three or
four climate divisions, as defined today, the change in the statewide
percentage of AM, PM, and MD observation times was applied in equal proportions
to all climate divisions prior to and including 1951.

Based on small differences between the two methods of estimating the time
of observation bias, the simpler categorical procedure was used for all climate
divisions. This should effectively eliminate most of the biases (over 2 Deg.F)
in some climate divisions that have become part of the divisional averages.
These biases affect both trends and actual estimates of divisional averages.

Reference: Karl, et al. (1986): "A model to estimate the time of

observation bias associated with monthly mean maximum, minimum, and mean
temperatures for the United States" (Thomas R. Karl, Claude N. Williams, Jr.,
and Pamela J. Young, National Climatic Data Center, and Wayne M. Wendland,
Illinois State Water Survey, Journal of Climate and Applied Meteorology,
January 1986, vol. 25, pp. 145-160, American Meteorological Society, Boston,
MA).

Historical drought data have been added to this file for the period 1895 to
present. The file is updated monthly. All drought data are calibrated using
the period 1895-1990 (cf. Karl, 1986; Journal of Climate and Applied
Meteorology, Vol. 25, No. 1, January 1986). Drought data include:

Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI)

This is the monthly value (index) that is generated indicating the severity
of a wet or dry spell. This index is based on the principles of a balance
between moisture supply and demand. Man-made changes were not considered in
this calculation. The index generally ranges from -6 to +6, with negative
values denoting dry spells and positive values indicating wet spells. There
are a few values in the magnitude of +7 or -7. PDSI values 0 to -.5 =
normal; -0.5 to -1.0 = incipient drought; -1.0 to -2.0 = mild drought; -2.0
to -3.0 = moderate drought; -3.0 to -4.0 = severe drought; and greater than -
4.0 = extreme drought. Similar adjectives are attached to positive values of
wet spells. This is a meteorological drought index used to assess the
severity of dry or wet spells of weather.

STATE CODE TABLE:

Range of values for the states, regions, and nation is 001-110.

001 Alabama 030 New York

002 Arizona 031 North Carolina
003 Arkansas 032 North Dakota
004 California 033 Ohio
005 Colorado 034 Oklahoma
006 Connecticut 035 Oregon
007 Delaware 036 Pennsylvania
008 Florida 037 Rhode Island
009 Georgia 038 South Carolina
010 Idaho 039 South Dakota
011 Illinois 040 Tennessee
012 Indiana 041 Texas
013 Iowa 042 Utah
 014 Kansas 043 Vermont
015 Kentucky 044 Virginia
016 Louisiana 045 Washington
017 Maine 046 West Virginia
018 Maryland 047 Wisconsin
019 Massachusetts 048 Wyoming
020 Michigan 101 Northeast Region
021 Minnesota 102 East North Central Region
022 Mississippi 103 Central Region
023 Missouri 104 Southeast Region
024 Montana 105 West North Central Region
025 Nebraska 106 South Region
026 Nevada 107 Southwest Region
027 New Hampshire 108 Northwest Region
028 New Jersey 109 West Region
029 New Mexico 110 National (contiguous 48 States)

FILE FORMAT:

Element Record
Name Position Element Description

STATE-CODE 1-3 STATE-CODE as indicated in State Code Table above.

Range of values is 001-110.

DIVISION-NUMBER 4 DIVISION NUMBER. Value is 0 which indicates an area-

averaged element.

ELEMENT-CODE 5 1 = Precipitation
2 = Temperature (adjusted for time of observation
bias)
5 = PDSI

YEAR 6-9 This is the year of record. Range is 1895 to current

year processed.

JAN-VALUE 10-16 Monthly Temperature format: Range of values b-50.00

to b140.00 degrees Fahrenheit. Decimals retain a
position in the 7-character field. Missing values in
the latest year are indicated by b-99.90.

Monthly Precipitation format: Range of values 00.00

to 99.99. Decimal point retains a position in the
7-character field. Missing values in the latest year
are indicated by bb-9.99.

FEB-VALUE 17-23

MAR-VALUE 24-30

APR-VALUE 31-37

MAY-VALUE 38-44

JUNE-VALUE 45-51

JULY-VALUE 52-58
AUG-VALUE 59-65

SEPT-VALUE 66-72

OCT-VALUE 73-79

NOV-VALUE 80-86

DEC-VALUE 87-93