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United States Historical Climatology Network (HCN) Serial Temperature and Precipitation Data (revised 1995)
Extending through 1994, this data base contains monthly total precipitation and temperature data from 1219 stations in the contiguous U.S. To be included in the Historical Climatology Network (HCN), a station had to be currently active (1994), have at least 80 years of monthly temperature and precipitation data, and have experienced few station changes. These data were derived from a variety of sources including the National Climatic Data Center archives, state climatologists, and published literature. The data base contains several hundred variables, including state number; station number; monthly temperatures (minimum, maximum, and mean); total monthly precipitation; and time of observation. This is probably the best monthly temperature and precipitation data set available for the contiguous U.S. because station moves, instrument changes, urbanization effects, and time-of-observation differences have been considered and, where necessary, the data have been corrected. The data are in 13 files [one station inventory file, one station history file, six temperature files, one precipitation file, one time-of-observation correction file, and two quality-assessment files]. The file sizes range from 5 kB to approximately 50 MB and are available on 9-track magnetic tape only.
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