Great Lakes States Monthly Precipitation Data NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab 2205 Commonwealth Blvd. Ann Arbor, MI 48105-2945 734-741-2235 Anonymous FTP access: ftp.glerl.noaa.gov/assel/precip/ Web URL: ftp://ftp.glerl.noaa.gov/assel/precip/ PRECIPITATION FILE LIST ILLINOIS P_IL_DAT.ZIP IL-HST.ZIP INDIANA P_IN_DAT.ZIP IN-HST.ZIP MICHIGAN P_MI_DAT.ZIP MI-HST.ZIP MINNESOTA P_MN_DAT.ZIP MN-HST.ZIP NEW YORK P_NY_DAT.ZIP NY-HST.ZIP OHIO P_OH_DAT.ZIP OH-HST.ZIP PENNSYLVANIA P_PA_DAT.ZIP PA-HST.ZIP WISCONSIN P_WI_DAT.ZIP WI-HST.ZIP 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 transfered using BINARY transfer mode to preserve the file integrity. P_*_DAT files contain the monthly precipitation 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 P*.DAT The name of a station's data file is based on that station's number. All file names follow the format of P.DAT. For example, Mansfield WSO AP is station number 4865 in Ohio, state number 33, thus giving the file name P334865.DAT. The first four lines of each data file contain the header information. The first line tells the type of data (precipitation). 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 are 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 two lines of the footer give the data codes for trace amounts and 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 Precipitation Data - Begining of Record to 1990 NOAA Technical Memorandum ERL-86 To obtain a copy of the above report contact: Cathleen Darnell NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab Publications Office 2205 Commonwealth Blvd. Ann Arbor, MI 48105-2945 734-741-2262 darnell@glerl.noaa.gov For more information on Great Lakes monthly precipitation data: Raymond Assel 734-741-2268 assel@glerl.noaa.gov Cynthia Sellinger 734-741-2385 sellinger@glerl.noaa.gov