Weather and Climate Sites

The following web sites have been compiled by the NOAA Central Library staff. Last updated 2/24/2017

A-C

• Advisories, watches, and warnings (U.S.) - national and state data (National Weather Service)
• American Meteorological Society home page
• Atlantic Coast Observer Network MD/DE/DC Chapter - local climatological data reports (hosted by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab)
• Atlantic Coast Observer Network VA/NC/SC Chapter - local climatological data reports
• Aviation Weather Center provides aviation warnings and forecasts of hazardous flight conditions at all levels within domestic and international air space (National Weather Service National Centers for Environmental Prediction)
  Acronym Glossary
• Climate at a Glance (National Climatic Data Center)
• Climate Change (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
• Climate Change: A Paleo Perspective on Global Warming (National Climatic Data Center)
• Climate Change and Variability (National Climatic Data Center)
• Climate Change, Variability, and Prediction (Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory)target="_blank"
• Climate Change - What is Climate Change? (PDF) (National Weather Service)
• Climate Data Online - CDO provides free access to National Climatic Data Center's archive of historical weather and climate data (National Climatic Data Center)
• Climate Data Online System - access National Climatic Data Center's U.S. Divisional Data and Global Summary of the Day databases (National Climatic Data Center)
• Climate extremes (U.S.) - view dates and locations of all time extremes of weather elements (maximum and minimum temperature, 24-hour rainfall and snowfall, snow depth, maximum annual precipitation, wind gust, and hailstones) for entire U.S. or by state (State Climate Extremes Committee, National Climatic Data Center)
• Climate Glossary - from the NOAA Climate Program Office
• Climate glossaries and weather tools - from the Earth System Research Laboratory's Physical Sciences Division
• Climate Maps of the United States database - access maps for climatic elements including precipitation, temperature, wind, sky cover/visibility, heating/cooling degree days, sea level pressure, freeze/frost. The period of record of the data for most of the maps is 1961-1990. (National Climatic Data Center)
• Climate Monitoring (National Climatic Data Center)
• Climate Prediction Center monitors and forecasts short-term climate fluctuations and provides information on the effects climate patterns can have on the nation (National Centers for Environmental Prediction, National Weather Service)
• Climate Program Office (Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research)
• Climate Services Division of the National Weather Service Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services
• Climate vs. Weather - a brief explanation of the differences between them (Climate Services Division of the National Weather Service Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services)
• Climates of the World publication - includes a brief discussion of the principal features of climates of all the continents, temperature and precipitation data, etc. (originally printed in 1969 and revised in 1991 (National Climatic Data Center))
• Clouds Info / Cloud Charts:
  NWS Cloud Chart - click on individual cloud chart images to see additional examples of each type (National Weather Service's JetStream - Online School for Weather)
  NWS's Introduction to Clouds
• The COMET (Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education, and Training) Program (UCAR and NOAA's National Weather Service)
• Comparative Climatic Data - observed data and climatological normals for many U.S. locations (National Climatic Data Center)
• Cooperative Observer Program (National Weather Service Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services)

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D-F

• Daily Forecast Map (U.S.) Archive (Weather Prediction Center, National Weather Service)
• Daily Synoptic Weather Maps (Northern Hemisphere Sea Level) - this collection provides access to historical daily synoptic weather maps for the northern hemisphere from 1899 to 1971. Browse by year to access the maps and to consult the Source and Analysis files for explanations of symbols, time of observation, list of data sources for individual countries, etc.
• Daily Weather Map (United States) site - access the maps and information about them. DWMs are prepared by the Weather Prediction Center, National Centers for Environmental Prediction (National Weather Service)
  (Daily Weather Map page: access DWMs from 2003-present)
  NOAA Central Library's Daily Weather Map page - Historical U.S. Daily Weather Maps: access individual daily maps from 1871 - 1968, and also daily maps (in weekly format) from 1968 - 2004. See link to download the DjVu Browser Plug-in required to view these maps. (NOAA Central Library's Daily Weather Maps Project)
• Drought information (U.S.) (Climate Prediction Center, National Weather Service)
  U.S. Drought Portal (National Integrated Drought Information System
• El Nino Theme Page (Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research)
• Environmental Modeling Center develops and improves numerical weather, climate, hydrological and ocean prediction through a broad program in partnership with the research community (National Centers for Environmental Prediction, National Weather Service)
• Extreme Events - access information about extreme U.S. events such as heat waves, droughts, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. (National Climatic Data Center)
• Extreme weather and climate events - weather disasters, heavy precipitation, temperature extremes & drought, Storm Events Database, El Nino/La Nina, U.S. hurricanes, etc. (National Climatic Data Center)
• Fire Weather (National Weather Service)
  Fire weather outlooks (Storm Prediction Center) (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration)
  (National Interagency Fire Center)
• Flood statistics - fatality data, flood damage data, loss reports, etc. (Hydrologic Information Center, National Weather Service)
• Flooding Theme Page - a featured topic of NOAAWatch (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration)
• Forecast terminology (National Weather Service La Crosse, WI Forecast Office)
• Freeze/frost probability tables for the U.S. (National Climatic Data Center)
• Fujita Tornado Damage Scale - a set of wind estimates based on damage. The F-Scale was developed in 1971 by T. Theodore Fujita at the University of Chicago (Storm Prediction Center, National Weather Service)

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G-I

• Geostationary Satellite Server: current geostationary satellite images (National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service)
• Global climate change (National Climatic Data Center)
• Global measured extremes of temperature and precipitation (National Climatic Data Center)
• Global Summary of the Day (GSOD) - worldwide data available (National Climatic Data Center)
  http://www7.ncdc.noaa.gov/CDO/GSOD_DESC.txt - a description of elements (mean temperature, mean sea level and station pressure, mean visibility, mean wind speed, precipitation totals, etc.) included in the GSOD reports
• Global Warming (National Climatic Data Center)
• Glossary of Meteorology from the American Meteorological Society
• Heat and Heat Index Information (National Weather Service Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services)
• Heating and cooling degree data for the U.S. (National Climatic Data Center)
• Historical foreign climate data of the NOAA Central Library's Data Imaging Project
• Historical Significant Events Imagery - Global satellite imagery of significant weather and environmental events for past 30 years (National Climatic Data Center)
• Hurricane/Tropical Cyclone FAQ (Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research)
• Hurricane History for the Washington and Baltimore Region (National Weather Service Baltimore/Washington Forecast Office)
• Hurricanes - maps (landfalling hurricanes), special reports, summaries by basin, etc. (National Climatic Data Center)
• Hurricanes/Tropical Weather Theme Page - a featured topic of NOAAWatch (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration)
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (World Meteorological Organization, United Nations Environment Programme)

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J-L

• JetStream - Online School For Weather (National Weather Service Fort Worth, TX Forecast Office)
• La Nina Theme Page (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration)
• Lightning Safety (National Weather Service Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services)
• Local Weather Data - select the Weather Forecast Offices tab to access data via individual site's Climate: Local links (National Weather Service Fort Worth, TX Forecast Office)

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M-O

• Marine data - archived surface marine data from around the world (National Climatic Data Center)
• Marine forecasts (National Weather Service Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services)
• Mariners Weather Log publication - contains articles, news and information about marine weather events and phenomena, storms at sea, weather forecasting, the National Weather Service Voluntary Observing Ship (VOS ) Program, Port Meteorological Officers (PMOs), cooperating ships officers, and their vessels. (National Data Buoy Center, National Weather Service)
• Monthly Weather Review publication - access to Volumes 1 (1873) - present (NOAA Central Library's Monthly Weather Review Archives Project)
• The National Center for Atmospheric Research - operated by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
• National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) (National Weather Service)
• National Climatic Data Center - NCDC is the world's largest active archive of weather data (National Environmental, Satellite, Data and Information Service)
  http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/certification-data - NCDC Certified Data
• National Data Buoy Center - NDBC designs, develops, operates, and maintains a network of data collecting buoys and coastal stations (National Weather Service)
• National Hurricane Center provides forecasts of the movement and strength of tropical weather systems and issues watches and warnings for the U.S. and surrounding areas (National Centers for Environmental Prediction, National Weather Service)
• National Ice Center - a multi-agency operational center operated by the U.S. Navy, NOAA, and the U.S. Coast Guard
• National Severe Storms Laboratory (Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research)
• National Snow and Ice Data Center - NSIDC is part of the University of Colorado Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, and is affiliated with NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center through a cooperative agreement
• National Weather Service contact page
  http://www.stormready.noaa.gov/contact.htm - local NWS contacts
• National Weather Service FAQ site (Public Affairs Office)
• National Weather Service Forecast Office sites - access recent (NOW Data) and historical local weather data, local forecasts, etc. (offices shown on map)
  http://www.nws.noaa.gov/organization.php (offices listed by region)
• National Weather Service Glossary
• National Weather Service home page
• National Weather Service Internet Weather Source - weather conditions for past 24 hours, forecasts, watches, and warnings for U.S. and also international weather conditions for past 24 hours
• National Weather Service Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services - weather awareness and safety information, educational information, publications (service assessments, brochures, etc.) information about weather services, etc.
• National Weather Service Public Affairs Office - link to list of NWS media contacts, weather brochures, information about finding past weather, etc.
• Natural hazard statistics - weather fatalities, injuries, and damages caused by severe weather such as lightning strikes, tornadoes, tropical cyclones, heat, flooding, cold, winter storms, and wind (National Weather Service Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services)
• Natural hazards data, images, and education (National Geophysical Data Center)
• NOAA Climate.gov - Science & information for a climate-smart nation
• NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration)
• NOAA Weather Radio (National Weather Service Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services)
• NOAA Weather Theme Page (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration)
• NOAAWatch: NOAA's All Hazard Monitor - featured topics include droughts, fire weather, winter weather, flooding, excessive heat, rip currents, etc. (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration)
• Ocean Prediction Center (National Centers for Environmental Prediction, National Weather Service)
• Online Meteorology Guides - a collection of web-based instructional modules (University of Illinois)
• Operational Significant Event Imagery - detailed imagery of significant global environmental events. The last image added to this site was generated in July 2010 and this site will remain available to locate imagery generated prior to August 1, 2010. See the NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory site for imagery generated since then. (National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service)
  http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/ (NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory)
• Ozone (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) - see Science (Ozone Basics, Layers of the Atmosphere, Ozone Depletion, and Antarctic Ozone Hole), FAQs, etc.
  http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/csd/ozonelayer.html (The Ozone Layer)
  http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/stratosphere/polar/polar.shtml (Meteorological Conditions & Ozone in the Polar Stratosphere)

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P-R

• Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) (Office of Satellite and Product Operations, National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service)
• Post Storm Data Acquisition - for selected extreme weather events occurring between 1997 and 2005. Also see the Service Assessments link below. (National Weather Service Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services)
• Precipitation - Precipitation Frequency (PF) information and publications (Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center, National Weather Service)
• Precipitation - Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP) information and publications (Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center, National Weather Service)
• Precipitation - USA record point precipitation measurements (Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center, National Weather Service)
• Precipitation - World record point precipitation measurements (Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center, National Weather Service)
• Radar imagery for the U.S. (National Weather Service)
• Regional Climate Centers - High Plains, Northeast, Midwestern, Southeast, Southern, and Western (Northeast Regional Climate Center)
• Regional climate maps (U.S.) (National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center)
• Relative humidity and dew point tables (National Weather Service Sacramento, CA Forecast Office)
• Rip Currents Theme Page - a featured topic of NOAAWatch (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration)
• River conditions for the U.S. (Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service, National Weather Service)
• River Forecast Centers - Alaska-Pacific, Arkansas-Red Basin, California-Nevada, Colorado Basin, Lower Mississippi, Middle Atlantic, Missouri Basin, North Central, Northeast, Northwest, Ohio, Southeast, and West Gulf (National Weather Service)

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S-U

• Satellite Imagery of the U.S. - see the most recent image of the United States, from NOAA geostationary (GOES) satellites. They are generated every 30 minutes using either the Visible, Infrared, Shortwave Infrared (4um), or the Water Vapor images into one larger composite image using GOES East and West Imagers (also view loop). (National Weather Service)
• Service assessments - of catastrophic weather events (National Weather Service Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services)
• Severe weather awareness (National Weather Service)
• Severe Weather Theme Page - a featured topic of NOAAWatch (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration)
• Space Weather Prediction Center provides space weather alerts and warnings for disturbances that can affect people and equipment working in space and on earth (National Centers for Environmental Prediction, National Weather Service)
• Space Weather Theme Page - a featured topic of NOAAWatch (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration)
• State Climate Offices (American Association of State Climatologists)
• Storm Events Database - details of U.S. (by county) weather events, including winter storms, excessive heat, drought, heavy rain, thunderstorm winds, lightning strikes, tornadoes, tropical storms, etc. (National Climatic Data Center)
• Storm Prediction Center provides tornado and severe weather watches for the contiguous United States along with a suite of hazardous weather forecasts (National Centers for Environmental Prediction, National Weather Service)
  http://www.spc.noaa.gov/archive/ - online Product and Report Archives for the U.S. (access archived outlooks (back to January 23, 2003), archived weather watches (back to January 1, 2004), archived mesoscale discussions (back to January 1, 2002), and archived preliminary storm reports (back to April 22, 2003))
• StormReady (Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services, National Weather Service)
• Storm Surge & Coastal Floods Theme Page - a featured topic of NOAAWatch (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration)
• Sunrise/sunset computations (one day) - for U.S. and worldwide locations (U.S. Naval Observatory)
  http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneYear.php (one year)
• Tornado FAQ (Storm Prediction Center/National Weather Service)
• Tsunamis - National Tsunami Warning Center (National Weather Service)
• Tsunamis - Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (National Weather Service)
• Ultraviolet Index Bulletin (operationally updated) (National Weather Service)
• Ultraviolet Index Forecast (Climate Prediction Center, National Weather Service)
• Ultraviolet Radiation Theme Page - a featured topic of NOAAWatch (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration)
• U.S. Army Signal Corps Annual Reports - The Signal Corps carried out the work of meteorological observations in the U.S. during the years 1861-1891. In 1891 the meteorological work was transferred to the newly-formed U.S. Weather Bureau in the Dept. of Agriculture. (NOAA Central Library)
• U.S. Climate Normals - the 1981-2010 Climate Normals are NCDC's latest three-decade averages of climatological variables, including temperature and precipitation (National Climatic Data Center)
• U.S. Global Change Research Program

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V-X

• Warnings, watches, and advisories - differences between them (National Weather Service Boise, ID Forecast Office)
• The Washington Post's weather page - weather for Washington, D.C.
• Weather Calculators (National Weather Service Boston, MA Forecast Office)
• The Weather Channel
• Weather/Climate Events Data - access page to many NCDC products and reports: the most recent U.S. Climate Normals product suite, Local Climatological Data and Climatological Data reports, Rainfall Frequency Atlas of the U.S., Freeze/Frost Data for the U.S., Heating and Cooling Degree Day data, etc. (National Climatic Data Center)
• Weather Education Resources (National Weather Service Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services)
• Weather instrument shelter - suggested dimensions/specifications (National Weather Service)
• Weather instrument station (for kids) - build your own instruments: anemometer, weather vane, barometer, screened thermometer, hygrometer, and rain gauge
• Weather map symbols (National Weather Service)
• Weather Prediction Center (formerly the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center) provides nationwide analysis and forecast guidance products out through seven days (National Centers for Environmental Prediction, National Weather Service)
• Weather-Ready Nation (WRN) - preparedness tips for natural hazards (National Weather Service)
• Weather safety/emergency preparedness brochures - topics include hurricanes, tornadoes, climate change, heat waves, flood safety, droughts, thunderstorms/lightning, winter storms, rip currents, etc. (National Weather Service)
• Weather satellite imagery: Geostationary Satellite Server (National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service)
• Weather terminology - general forecast terminology, severe weather terms, winter weather advisory terms, winter weather warning terms, non-precipitation weather terms, hydrologic terms, coastal/oceanic/marine terms, and general weather glossary National Weather Service Louisville, KY Forecast Office)
• Weather Underground - global weather data (present day and historical: for historical, scroll to "Almanac" and select the "Almanac for (today's date)" link under "History" after retrieving weather for a specified location)
• Weatherwise - The Magazine About the Weather
• Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin (January 1971 - present) - reports are jointly published by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, the National Agricultural Statistics Service, and the World Agricultural Outlook Board
• Wind data for the U.S. - historical data by state (National Climatic Data Center)
• Windchill - access to windchill chart, FAQ, calculator, etc. (National Weather Service Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services)
• Winter Weather Theme Page - a featured topic of NOAAWatch (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration)
• World Climate Research Programme
• World Data Center for Glaciology, Boulder, Colorado - operated under a cooperative agreement between the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)/University of Colorado at Boulder and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The WDC for Glaciology is collocated with the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).
• World Data Center for Meteorology, Asheville, North Carolina (maintained by NOAA, collocated with and operated by the National Climatic Data Center)
• World Data Center for Oceanography, Silver Spring, Maryland (collocated with and operated by the National Oceanographic Data Center)
• World Data Center for Paleoclimatology (operated by the National Climatic Data Center, collocated with the National Geophysical Data Center)
• World Meteorological Organization of the United Nations - link to WMO publications, news, members by region, etc.
  (World Weather Information Service: official observations and forecasts)
  (WMO Members)