Available Data

• Daily Data are provided for nearly 10,000 stations nationwide, with some records dating to the late 1800s. Available information includes temperature, precipitation, snow measurements, and degree-day calculations.
• Hourly Data are provided for nearly 2,500 stations nationwide. Available information includes temperature, precipitation, pressure, wind, humidity, present weather, visibility, wind chill, and heat index. Wind roses are available for user-specified seasons and years.
• Mapping of Gridded Daily Data allows users to visualize gridded temperature, precipitation, and snow data since 1900 at national, regional, and state scales.
• State and Climate Division Data provide averages of temperature, precipitation, degree days, and drought and precipitation indices at multiple timescales, with data available since 1895.
• Additional Data include higher-resolution precipitation data; information from localized or specialized weather and climate networks; soil temperature and moisture; solar radiation; storm reports; upper-air data; and stream gauge information.

Web Service Data Access

Web services provide the ability to access data through the web. A user can pass arguments specifying the requested data to a URL, and the server hosting the URL returns the data, generally in a format such as XML or JSON. For climate data users, this provides a simple way to build web tools and access large amounts of data.

Applied Climate Information System (ACIS)

The Applied Climate Information System (ACIS) was developed and is maintained by the NOAA Regional Climate Centers (RCCs). It is designed to manage the complex flow of climate data from collectors to end users. The system delivers operational information derived from historical archives and near-real-time climate data.

ACIS provides metadata and climate data information for national, regional, and local datasets. Included datasets include, but are not limited to, the NWS Cooperative Observer Program, Automated Surface and Weather Observing Systems (ASOS/AWOS), and the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS).

ACIS also provides access to gridded datasets such as the Parameter-Elevation Relationships on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) and climate models such as those from the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program.

The MRCC uses the ACIS hourly data feed for all hourly data products. When using MRCC hourly data products or creating ACIS queries, there are several important caveats to consider:

• Top-of-the-hour observations only: Hourly products are based solely on top-of-the-hour readings and exclude sub-hourly observations, special observations, and 24-hour summary observations.
• Limited to first-order ASOS stations: Only data from first-order U.S. ASOS stations are provided. These stations are primarily located at medium to large airports and measure standard weather variables, including temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, visibility, precipitation, and atmospheric pressure.
• Non-quality-controlled data: Hourly data are based on raw, decoded METAR observations that have not been fully quality controlled.

Enhancements are underway within the ACIS system to expand access to sub-hourly observations, provide additional station locations, and integrate quality-controlled data from the Global Historical Climatology Network hourly dataset.

Data Disclaimer

The Midwestern Regional Climate Center and/or Purdue University shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of data provided by the Midwestern Regional Climate Center. Data appearing on the Midwestern Regional Climate Center website are not legal documents and should not be used as such. For more information about certified records available from the Midwestern Regional Climate Center, please see our certification policy or contact the Midwestern Regional Climate Center.

The Midwestern Regional Climate Center gives no warranty, expressed or implied, regarding the accuracy, reliability, utility, or completeness of its data. The user assumes all responsibility and risk for the use of data provided by the Midwestern Regional Climate Center. The Midwestern Regional Climate Center disclaims all warranties, representations, or endorsements, expressed or implied, with regard to the data provided, including all implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.

Additional Information