# Presentation: 167363

## The Multiple Uses of a Comprehensive Climatology Database

**John P. Gagan, Steve A. Listemaa and Eric E. Carpenter NWS WFO Jackson, MS                       And                                                            Jennifer L. Colson                                       NWS WFO Tampa Bay, FL**** **

## The Purpose of this Presentation

**List useful climate information readily available to all National Weather Service Forecast Offices (NWS WFOs)**
**Identify methods of data collection**
**Compare methods of storing and accessing the data**
**Examine examples of how these databases can improve forecasts and services**

## Why take the time and effort to create these databases?

**The NWS is mandated to protect life and property**
**In order to protect life and property, the NWS forecaster is responsible for forecasting extreme (anomalous) events as far in advance as possible**
**These databases provide a comprehensive knowledge of a CWA’s weather history and offer an explicit investigation into what can occur**

## Climatological Data

** ****This large data set serves as a footprint for each NWS WFO county warning area (CWA) and is an essential resource for all forecasters**

**Climatological Data**

## Climatological Data (con’t)

**Available Surface Data:**
**Hourly -- From station inception through the present**
**Wind Speed, Direction and Gusts**
**Visibility**
**Temperature**
**Dewpoint**
**Ceiling Height and Coverage**
**Pressure**
**Rainfall**

## Climatological Data (con’t)

**Daily (Varying Time Spans)**
**High/Low Temperature**
**24-hour Rainfall**
**24-hour Snowfall**
**Snow Depth**
**Upper Air**
**Twice Daily, with intermediates**

**Climatological Data (con’t)**

## Data Acquisition

**www.ncdc.noaa.gov**
**Most data available on CDROMs or web-based queries**
**Many of these data sets available in digital ASCII format**
**Lists of station histories provided via ftp (also in Adobe Acrobat, Word or Text files)**

**Data Acquisition**

## Data Acquisition (con’t)

**Available data for the Jackson, MS CWA**
**Hundreds of daily coop reports, with histories dating back as far as 1890s**
**Eleven hourly surface observation sites with histories as far back as 1901 (most back to the 1970s)**
**All available North American RAOB data from 1946 onward (best coverage from 1957 through the present)**

## Data Manipulation

**Files acquired through CDROM and download were formatted to comma delimited (if not already in this format)**
**Upper air mandatory-level data from the KJAN site extracted using GEMPAK**
**Comma delimited data saved as text files**

## Data Manipulation (con’t)

**Data delimited by ****Year****, ****Month****, ****Day**** and ****Hour**** (when applicable)**
**Once all the acquired files have been saved as text files they are imported to a MySQL database**
**Databases are created for each data type**

## KJAN Daily Database Query – The “Old” Database

**Initially, Microsoft Access was used as it allowed for easy “access” to all data**
**Queries were created to search for any year, month, date, parameter, or combination therein**
**After testing the database, we found that the Access GUI was user-unfriendly**
**A simple, web-based version received a much better response from users**

## KJAN Daily Database Query – The “Old” Database Example

**How many times has KJAN observed low temperatures at or below 32 F in October?**

## KJAN Daily Database Query Example

**KJAN Daily Database Query Example**

**Between 1930 and 2002 (2232 observation records) a temperature of 32 F or lower was observed only ****30**** times in October**
**Obviously a 98****th**** percentile event!**

## The “New” KJAN Daily Database

**The “New” KJAN Daily Database**

**COOP Search**
**Search for Tmax, Tmin, and Precip for a station**

## The “New” KJAN Daily Database

**The “New” KJAN Daily Database**

**Web Table output**
**Simple**
**Basic Info Fast**

## The “New” KJAN Daily Database

**The “New” KJAN Daily Database**

**Text output**
**Save as a .txt**
**Easily imported into a spreadsheet**
**Quick analysis**

## The “New” KJAN Daily Database

**The “New” KJAN Daily Database**

**METAR Search**
**Example: just temperature**

## The “New” KJAN Daily Database

**The “New” KJAN Daily Database**

## The “New” KJAN Daily Database

**The “New” KJAN Daily Database**

**Graphing Feature**

## The “New” KJAN Daily Database

**The “New” KJAN Daily Database**

## Special Queries

**Special Queries**

**Show all observations with Temps < 15F in the year 1982**
**This is just a partial listing**

## How many times has KJAN observed low temperatures at or below 32 F in October?

**How many times has KJAN observed low temperatures at or below 32 F in October?**

## KJAN Daily Database Query Example

**KJAN Daily Database Query Example**

**Between 1930 and 2002 (2232 observation records) a temperature of 32 F or lower was observed only ****30**** times in October**
**Obviously a 98****th**** percentile event!**

## KJAN Upper Air Database

**All available North American raob data (TTAA/TTBB format) available from NCDC converted to GEMPAK**
**Each sounding viewable through NSHARP**
**Mandatory level data extracted and put into text files**
**Text data then imported to Microsoft Access**

## KJAN Upper Air Database

**Sounding coverage available in the database**

## KJAN Upper Air Database

**0000 UTC 22 February 1971 KJAN Sounding – Delta Outbreak**

## KJAN Upper Air Database –        Text Data

**Mandatory Text data includes:**
**Temperature**
**Dewpoint**
**Heights**
**Wind Direction/Speed**

## KJAN Upper Air Database – Text Data (con’t)

## KJAN Upper Air Database –               Text Data example

**How many times has the 850hpa temperature been observed at -10C or lower in January?**

**16 times out of ~1300 observations**

## Uses of the Databases

**All databases can be linked to one another (Hourly to Daily to Upper Air)**
**Break down any data set for any period of time, for any parameter**
**Statistical analysis of parameters pertinent to general forecasting, aviation, fire weather, etc.**
**Verify historical occurrences of special weather criteria such as wind advisories, wind chill, heat indices, Red Flag, etc.**

## Uses of the Databases (con’t)

**Inclusion of teleconnection data from the CPC allows a user to define average temps during each ENSO phase, PDO phase, etc. **
**The user is bound only by their imagination**
**A few examples...**

**Uses of the Databases (con’t)**

## Uses of the Databases (con’t)

**Further analysis can break down effects of cloud cover and wind direction on the hourly temperature and dewpoint curves**
**These curves can significantly increase accuracy of point forecast matrices (PFMs)**

**Uses of the Databases (con’t)**

## Hourly Temperature Curves

**Hourly Temperature Curves**

## Uses of the Databases (con’t)

**Hourly Data**
**Climo temperature/dewpoint curves**
**Historical analysis of wind speed and direction (Homeland Security issues)**
**Typical Ceilings and Visibilities associated with particular weather phenomena**
**Analysis of wind chill/heat index values**

## Uses of the Databases (con’t)

**Daily data**
**Define “average” temperature and “normal” temperatures for a given time period**
**Create box and whiskers diagrams to visually separate the 50****th**** percentile from truly anomalous temperatures**

## Uses of the Databases (con’t)

**Uses of the Databases (con’t)**

**Craven 2003**

## Uses of the Databases (con’t)

**Uses of the Databases (con’t)**

**Late October KJAN stats**

## Uses of the Databases (con’t)

**Excellent source for investigating significant weather events**
**Linking Daily data with text Upper Air data gives a 3-D view of anomalously hot/cold air masses**
**Can take model and ensemble consensus in the extended forecast period to explicitly quantify what an air mass is capable of**
**Quite powerful when used in tandem with NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data**

## Uses of the Databases (con’t)

**http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/cdc/reanalysis/**
**Visualization of surface and upper air parameters for any date back to 1948**
**GRADS image creation allows user to define viewing area**
**Highly recommend this site**

**Uses of the Databases (con’t)**

## Uses of the Databases (con’t)

**Let’s briefly revisit our upper air database example**

**How many times has the 850hpa temperature been observed at -10C or lower in January?**

***16 times out of ~1300 observations***

## Uses of the Databases (con’t)

**Uses of the Databases (con’t)**

## Uses of the Databases (con’t)

**Using the Daily database, a distribution of all high and low temperature recorded in January can be exported to Microsoft Excel**
**Finding the max, min, median, 25****th**** percentile and 75****th**** percentile values for both the high and low temperature in January, a box and whiskers diagram can be created**

## Uses of the Databases (con’t)

**Uses of the Databases (con’t)**

***33.3***

***16***

***40***

***24***

***27***

***2***

**HIGH**

**LOW**

**January**

## Uses of the Databases (con’t)

**Although not surprising by any means, a forecaster can quantify that 850hpa temperatures of ******** -10 C lead to surface high and low temperatures in the lowest quartile of the temperature distribution for January**
**Statistics just like these are currently being developed at KJAN and are inserted into a binder next to the synoptic forecaster’s workstation**

## Benefits of the Database

**Increased knowledge of your forecast area of concern**
**Statistics can easily be generated for any station, parameter, and time period**
**Generate smart tools for use in IFPS (GFE)**
**Increased situational awareness of anomalous air masses/events in the extended forecast period**
**Enhances in-depth studies of any weather phenomena that affects your region**

## Future Endeavors

**Complete the “Climate Database Retrieval System” for each WFO within Southern Region**
**Each office will have quick access to:**
**Hourly observations and COOP observations for your area**
**ALL raobs from North America**
**This data will be queried through a simple web-based platform**

## Future Endeavors

**Acquisition of hourly coop rainfall data**
**In depth studies of heavy rainfall events by season**
**Define what “heavy rainfall” means for an area**
**Acquisition of snow cover data**
**Contour all upper level height data using GEMPAK for quick reference**

## MANY THANKS!

**Eric, Jennifer, Steve and I would like to thank Alan Gerard (MIC) and Jeff Craven (SOO) for allowing us to tackle this large project**
**My wife, Jennifer, for showing me the finer points of Microsoft Access**
**Also, the CDC, CPC and NCDC for their monumental efforts in collecting and creating quality data sets and web generated products**

## John.Gagan@noaa.gov

**John.Gagan@noaa.gov**
**Eric.Carpenter@noaa.gov**

**Contact myself or Eric at:**