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Dataset Overview | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Normals 2020 (NCEI Accession 0248650)

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ENSO Normals 2020 is a new high-resolution set of climate normals for the contiguous United States that are conditioned for various phase categories of the El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO): Strong La Niña, Weak La Niña, Neutral, Weak El Niño, and Strong El Niño. In addition, the optimal climate normal (OCN) – a 15-yr running average instead of the traditional 30-year normal – is utilized to better reflect the impacts of climate change. The spatial domain is a 1/24 degree grid over the contiguous United States (CONUS). Monthly normals are provided for daily maximum temperature (tmax; °C), daily minimum temperature (tmin; °C), and liquid-equivalent precipitation (prcp; mm) and are produced for each of the five phase categories. The ENSO normals are the sum of these composites with the OCN for a given month. The result is five sets of normals, one for each phase category, which users may consult with respect to anticipated ENSO outcomes.
  • Cite as: Arguez, Anthony; Palecki, Michael A.; Rennie, J. Jared (2022). El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Normals 2020 (NCEI Accession 0248650). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/7tx4-2r35. Accessed [date].
gov.noaa.nodc:0248650
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Distribution Formats
  • Originator data format
Ordering Instructions Contact NCEI for other distribution options and instructions.
Distributor NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
+1-301-713-3277
ncei.info@noaa.gov
Dataset Point of Contact NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
ncei.info@noaa.gov
Time Period 1950-01-01 to 2020-12-31
Spatial Bounding Box Coordinates
West: -124.6875
East: -67.02084
South: 24.56253
North: 49.3542
Spatial Coverage Map
General Documentation
Associated Resources
  • Arguez, A., Inamdar, A., Palecki, M. A., Schreck, C. J., & Young, A. H. (2019). ENSO Normals: A New U.S. Climate Normals Product Conditioned by ENSO Phase and Intensity and Accounting for Secular Trends. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 58(6), 1381–1397. https://doi.org/10.1175/jamc-d-18-0252.1
  • Vose, R. S., Applequist, S., Squires, M., Durre, I., Menne, M. J., Williams, C. N., Fenimore, C., Gleason, K., & Arndt, D. (2014). Improved Historical Temperature and Precipitation Time Series for U.S. Climate Divisions. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 53(5), 1232–1251. https://doi.org/10.1175/jamc-d-13-0248.1
Publication Dates
  • publication: 2022-03-09
  • creation: 2022-02-23
Data Presentation Form Digital table - digital representation of facts or figures systematically displayed, especially in columns
Dataset Progress Status Complete - production of the data has been completed
Historical archive - data has been stored in an offline storage facility
Data Update Frequency As needed
Purpose This new product, which is based on available data through 2020, can assist stakeholders in planning for a broad array of possible ENSO impacts in a changing climate.
Use Limitations
  • accessLevel: public
  • Distribution liability: NOAA and NCEI make no warranty, expressed or implied, regarding these data, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA and NCEI cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data. If appropriate, NCEI can only certify that the data it distributes are an authentic copy of the records that were accepted for inclusion in the NCEI archives.
Dataset Citation
  • Cite as: Arguez, Anthony; Palecki, Michael A.; Rennie, J. Jared (2022). El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Normals 2020 (NCEI Accession 0248650). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/7tx4-2r35. Accessed [date].
Cited Authors
Principal Investigators
Collaborators
Contributors
Resource Providers
Publishers
Acknowledgments
  • Funding Agency: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
Theme keywords NODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS NODC OBSERVATION TYPES THESAURUS WMO_CategoryCode
  • climatology
Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords
Data Center keywords NODC COLLECTING INSTITUTION NAMES THESAURUS NODC SUBMITTING INSTITUTION NAMES THESAURUS Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Data Center Keywords
Instrument keywords NODC INSTRUMENT TYPES THESAURUS Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Instrument Keywords
Place keywords Provider Place Names
  • CONUS
Project keywords Provider Project Names
  • Climate Normals
Keywords NCEI ACCESSION NUMBER
Keywords Send2NCEI Submission Package ID
  • 2R92HD
Use Constraints
  • Cite as: Arguez, Anthony; Palecki, Michael A.; Rennie, J. Jared (2022). El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Normals 2020 (NCEI Accession 0248650). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/7tx4-2r35. Accessed [date].
Access Constraints
  • Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
Fees
  • In most cases, electronic downloads of the data are free. However, fees may apply for custom orders, data certifications, copies of analog materials, and data distribution on physical media.
Lineage information for: dataset
Processing Steps
  • 2022-03-09T21:56:28Z - NCEI Accession 0248650 v1.1 was published.
Output Datasets
Lineage information for: dataset
Processing Steps
  • Parameter or Variable: AIR TEMPERATURE (measured); Units: degrees Celsius; Observation Category: in situ; Sampling Instrument: thermistor; Sampling and Analyzing Method: Monthly gridded data from in situ measurements at more than 7,000 stations. Normals computed as a function of ENSO Category and accounting for climate change.; Data Quality Method: Global Historical Climatology Network Quality Control of station data inputs with spatial comparisons, climatology, and extremes tests.
  • Parameter or Variable: PRECIPITATION AMOUNT (measured); Units: mm; Observation Category: in situ; Sampling Instrument: rain gauge; Sampling and Analyzing Method: Monthly gridded data from in situ measurements at more than 15,000 stations. Normals computed as a function of ENSO Category and accounting for climate change.; Data Quality Method: Global Historical Climatology Network Quality Control of station data inputs with spatial comparisons, climatology, and extremes tests.
Acquisition Information (collection)
Instrument
  • rain gauge
  • thermistor
Last Modified: 2026-04-08T18:56:03Z
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