Open AccessNOAA's 1981–2010 U.S. Climate Normals: An Overview
Author(s) -
Anthony Argüez,
Imke Durre,
Scott Applequist,
Russell S. Vose,
Michael F. Squires,
Xungang Yin,
Richard R. Heim,
Timothy W. Owen
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
bulletin of the american meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.367
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1520-0477
pISSN - 0003-0007
DOI - 10.1175/bams-d-11-00197.1
Subject(s) - snow , environmental science , precipitation , climatology , suite , national weather service , meteorology , climate change , geography , geology , oceanography , archaeology
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released the 1981–2010 U.S. Climate Normals in July 2011, representing the latest decadal installment of this long-standing product line. Climatic averages (and other statistics) of temperature, precipitation, snowfall, and numerous derived quantities were calculated for ~9,800 stations operated by the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS). They include estimated normals, or “quasi normals,” for approximately 2,000 active short-record stations such as those in the U.S. Climate Reference Network. The 1981–2010 installment features several new products and methodological enhancements: 1) state-of-the-art temperature homogenization at the monthly scale, 2) extensive utilization of quality-controlled daily climate data, 3) new statistical approaches for calculating daily temperature normals and heating and cooling degree days, and 4) a comprehensive suite of precipitation, snowfall, and snow depth statistics. This paper provides a general overview of this new suite of climate normals products.