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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
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.
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.
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:
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.
FILE FORMAT:
Element Record
Name Position Element Description
ELEMENT-CODE 5 1 = Precipitation
2 = Temperature (adjusted for time of observation
bias)
5 = PDSI
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