===================================================================== CONTENTS AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE 1981-2010 GLOBAL STANDARD CLIMATE NORMALS ===================================================================== The Global Climatological Standard Normals are calculated for a uniform 30-year period, and consist of annual and monthly averages and statistics of temperature, precipitation, and other climatological variables. Since the early 1900s, countries have developed and provided Climatological Standard Normals on a tricennial basis (once every 30 years; 1900–1930, 1931–1960, 1961–1990). In 2015, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), through the Seventeenth World Meteorological Congress (Cg-17), changed the definition of a Climatological Standard Normal to the most recent 30-year period finishing in a year ending with 0 (1981–2010, 1991–2020 etc) rather than to non-overlapping 30-year-periods (1931–1960, 1961–1990 etc). NCEI, as host of the World Data Center for Meteorology, and in cooperation with the WMO, provides stewardship of the Global Normals including archive and access services. Because of the recent decision by the WMO to begin collection of climatological standard normals every ten years instead of every 30 years, an abbreviated effort to compile the 1981-2010 normals began in 2018. The short notice provided to Member nations resulted in a smaller number of country contributions than took place for the previous normals effort (1961-1990). Contributions from about 55 countries are available on this website. Members were asked to submit station files in either Excel format or Comma Separated Values (*.csv ASCII text) format. Each file submitted was limited to only one station per tab when providing data in Excel format or one station per file for data provided in ASCII *.csv format. The Excel file format is compatible to most versions of Microsoft Excel. Each tab or file header contains the following information: Station Header Record Row 6: Country Name - Column B Row 7: Station Name - Column B Row 10: WMO Number - Column A formatted as 5 digit number Latitude - Column B formatted as deg|min|sec|N or S Longitude - Column C formatted as deg|min|sec|E or W Station_Height - Column D formatted in whole meters (using ?-? below sea level) Row 13: WIGOS Station ID (if available) - Column A formatted as 12 digits A parameter is a statistical descriptor of a climate element. Most observed elements are formed into means, sums, or counts for understanding the state of the element for a representative calendar month. WMO-No. 1203 (available on this website at https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/normals/WMO/) describes the most fundamental parameter calculation methods available for computation of the normals. Climate parameters are defined as an aspect of climate that can be statistically described, such as mean air temperature, precipitation total, or mean sea level pressure. Subject to limitations on available data, there are eight principal climatological surface parameters that were reported in station climate normals submissions. There are also a set of secondary parameters and Other parameters that countries could provide at their discrtion. The submission format included the use of the parameter name in a header above the data table. The eight principal climatological parameters and their respective units are: 1 Precipitation_Total mm 2 Number_of_Days_with_Precipitation_>=_1 mm count 3 Daily_Maximum_Temperature Deg_C 4 Daily_Minimum_Temperature Deg_C 5 Daily_Mean_Temperature Deg_C 6 Mean_Sea_Level_Pressure hPa 7 Mean_Vapor_Pressure hPa 8 Total_Number_of_Hours_of_Sunshine hours Countries also had the option to provide additional climatological surface parameters derived for the same element but using a different calculation method (e.g., median precipitation total, extreme maximum daily maximum temperature, etc.). These could be reported on additional spreadsheet rows in conjunction with each principal climatological surface parameter. Secondary climatological surface parameters are generally well recognized. Many are counts exceeding a threshold of temperature, precipitation, or wind. The secondary climatological parameters and their respective units are: 10 Mean_Station-Level_Pressure hPa 11 Boundaries_of_quintiles_of_monthly_precipitation mm 12 Number_of_Days_with_Maximum_Temperature_>=_threshold*_Deg_C count 13 Number_of_Days_with_Minimum_Temperature_<=_threshold*_Deg_C count 14 Number_of_Days_with_Maximum_Temperature_<_0_Deg_C count 15 Number_of_Days_with_Minimum_Temperature_<_0_Deg_C count 16 Number_of_Days_with_Daily_Precipitation_>=_threshold*_mm count 17 Number_of_Days_with_Snow_Depth_>_threshold*_cm count 18 Number_of_Days_with_Wind_Speed_>=_threshold*_m/s count 19 Number_of_Days_with_Visibility_<_threshold*_m count 20 Highest_Value_of_Mean_Daily_Temperature Deg_C 21 Lowest_Value_of_Mean_Daily_Temperature Deg_C 22 Highest_Value_of_Daily_Maximum_Temperature Deg_C 23 Lowest_Value_of_Daily_Minimum_Temperature Deg_C 24 Highest_Value_of_Daily_Precipitation mm 25 Highest_Wind_Gust m/s 26 Mean_Number_of_Days_with_Thunder count 27 Mean_Number_of_Days_with_Hail count * For parameters with the word "threshold", a numerical value or qualifier was specified by the country, and repeated where necessary. Member nations also had the option to provide Other climatological parameters such as Cloud_Amount, Global_Solar_Radiation, Direct_Solar_Radiation, Wind_Speed, Wind_Direction, and others. The files are arranged using the following overall directory structure. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/normals/WMO/1981-2010/ | | ------------------------------------ | | | | | | REG_I REG_II REG_III REG_IV REG_V REG_VI Technical support questions or comments should be directed to: User Engagement Group NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Climatic Science and Services Division (CSSD) 151 Patton Avenue, Asheville, NC USA 28801-5001 V: 1-828-271-4800