Great Lakes States Monthly Temperature Data

NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab
4840 S. State Rd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48108-9719
734-741-2235

Temperature File List
ILLINOIS	T_IL_DAT.ZIP	IL-HST.ZIP
INDIANA	T_IN_DAT.ZIP	IN-HST.ZIP
MICHIGAN	T_MI_DAT.ZIP	MI-HST.ZIP
MINNESOTA	T_MN_DAT.ZIP	MN-HST.ZIP
NEW YORK	T_NY_DAT.ZIP	NY-HST.ZIP
OHIO	T_OH_DAT.ZIP	OH-HST.ZIP
PENNSYLVANIA	T_PA_DAT.ZIP	PA-HST.ZIP
WISCONSIN	T_WI_DAT.ZIP	WI-HST.ZIP

A detailed description of data and data reduction procedures is given in Great Lakes States Average Monthly Temperature Data - Begriming of Record to 1990 report.

For each state there are two files having similar file names with the exception of the first two letters. All of these files are ZIPPED files, using PKZIP Version 2.04g. The ZIPPED files must be transferred using BINARY transfer mode to preserve the file integrity.

T_*_DAT files contain the monthly temperature data for each station in that state. These are ZIPPED files, with one file for each station.

*-HST files contain the station history information extracted from the WB 530-1 forms by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). These data show the station number, latitude, longitude, elevation, station name, and period of record for each station location. These are ZIPPED files, with one file for each state.

The format of the unzipped files is as follows

T*.DAT

The name of a station's data file is based on that station's number. All file names follow the format of T .DAT. For example, Mansfield WSO AP is station number 4865 in Ohio, state number 33, thus giving the file name T334865.DAT. The first four lines of each data file contain the header information. The first line tells the type of data (temperature). The second line gives the NCDC station number, latitude, longitude, station name, and elevation in feet above sea level. The third line shows what period of years is covered. The fourth line is blank. Following the header are data for each year covered. The format for these data is the year followed by the data for each month. The FORTRAN format is (1X, I4,2X,12F6.2). Following the data is a blank line followed by a footer. The footer contains notes regarding the data. The first line of the footer gives the data codes for missing values. Some files may also have information regarding combined data from nearby locations, or station name changes.

*-HST.DAT

The file naming convention is state two letter abbreviation followed by -HST.DAT. The following table gives the column, item, and missing value identifier, if any, for the *_HST.DAT files.

COLUMNS	ITEM	MISSING IDENTIFIER
01-06	STATION NUMBER	NONE
08-13	LATITUDE	99.999
15-21	LONGITUDE	-99.999
23-26	ELEVATION	-999
28-48	STATION NAME	NONE
50-71	STATION NAME QUALIFIER	NONE
73-82	BEGINING DATE (MM/DD/YYYY)	ALL 9's IN ANY FIELD
84-93	ENDING DATE (MM/DD/YYYY)	ALL 9's IN ANY FIELD, 99/99/9999 FOR EITHER UNKNOWN ENDING DATE, OR STATION STILL IN OPERATION AS OF 12/31/1990

A detailed description of data and data reduction proceedures is given in:

Great Lakes States Monthly Average Temperature Data - Begining of Record to 1990
NOAA Technical Memorandum ERL-88 (.pdf)

To obtain a copy of the above report contact:
Cathleen Darnell
NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab
Publications Office
4840 S. State Rd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48108-9719
734-741-2262
e-mail:

For more information on Great Lakes monthly temperature data:

Cynthia Sellinger
734-741-2385
e-mail:

Last updated: 2006-08-28 mbl