The
preliminary climate data pages consist of 3 parts.
Part1 is the site information including the
station location, the month and year of the report,
and the latitude and longitude of the station.
Part 2 is the daily information which consists
of 18 columns of data, with one row of data for each
day of the month. The day runs from 0000 to 2359 Local
Standard Time (0100 to 0059 Daylight Savings Time).
Part 3 of the report (noted as Page 2) is the
monthly section which consists of various averages and
totals for the month.
An excerpt of a WS Form F6 is shown below. An
explanation of each column of the data can be found
below the example.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA (WS FORM: F-6)
STATION: WASHINGTON NATIONAL
MONTH: MARCH
YEAR: 2003
LATITUDE: 38 50 N
LONGITUDE: 77 2 W
TEMPERATURE IN F: :PCPN: SNOW: WIND :SUNSHINE: SKY :PK WND
================================================================================
1 2 3 4 5 6A 6B 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
AVG MX 2MIN
DY MAX MIN AVG DEP HDD CDD WTR SNW DPTH SPD SPD DIR MIN PSBL S-S WX SPD DR
================================================================================
1 40 33 37 -5 28 0 0.01 0.1 3 5.7 14 190 M M 10 18 15 190
2 52 36 44 2 21 0 0.41 0.0 1 9.2 21 320 M M 9 1 28 320
3 42 20 31 -11 34 0 T T 0 13.3 28 340 M M 2 35 340
4 46 23 35 -8 30 0 0.00 0.0 0 6.0 10 180 M M 7 M M
5 68 38 53 10 12 0 0.07 0.0 0 5.8 16 350 M M 9 18 18 360
6 49 30 40 -3 25 0 0.22 0.0 0 13.6 26 20 M M 9 1 29 10
7 89 69 79 3 0 14 0.14 0.0 0 6.3 25 240 M M 6 13 33 250
8 87 71 79 3 0 14 0.00 0.0 0 6.8 25 280 M M 7 32 260
9 91 72 82 6 0 17 0.28 0.0 0 7.5 23 250 M M 8 13 31 260
10 76 69 73 -3 0 8 0.23 0.0 0 9.2 16 50 M M 10 138 18 60
11 86 67 77 1 0 12 0.04 0.0 0 6.3 20 280 M M 7 138 25 280
12 85 61 73 -4 0 8 0.34 0.0 0 7.0 23 220 M M 5 138 30 220
13 83 62 73 -4 0 8 T 0.0 0 3.7 13 360 M M 6 18 350
14 79 67 73 -4 0 8 T 0.0 0 6.3 16 90 M M 7 1 21 50
31 45 31 38 -13 27 0 T T 0 12.7 31 300 M M 4 8 39 320
================================================================================
SM 1767 1152 549 0 4.20 0.1 276.6 M 205
================================================================================
AV 57.0 37.2 8.9 FASTST PSBL % 7 MAX(MPH)
MISC ----> 37 330 44 330
================================================================================
NOTES:
# LAST OF SEVERAL OCCURRENCES
Note:
An "M" in any column means the data are
Missing for that element.
| Column |
|
|
| 1 |
DY |
The
day of the month. |
| 2 |
MAX |
The
highest temperature for the day in
degrees Fahrenheit (F). |
| 3 |
MIN |
The
lowest temperature for the day in
degrees Fahrenheit (F). |
| 4 |
AVG |
The
average temperature for the day,
computed by finding the average of the values
in columns 2 and 3, then rounding (if
necessary). Example; 55.5 rounds up to
56, 55.4 rounds down to 55 degrees. |
| 5 |
DEP |
Departure
from normal. The difference between column 4
and the 30 year normal temperature for this
date. A minus (-) is number of degrees
below normal. A zero (0) indicates that the
average for that day was the Normal. |
| 6a
& 6b |
HDD
&
CDD |
Degree
Day: A gauge of the amount of heating
or cooling needed for a building using 65
degrees as a baseline. To compute
heating/cooling degree-days, take the average
temperature for a day and subtract the
reference temperature of 65 degrees. If the
difference is positive, it is called a "Cooling
Degree Day". If the difference is
negative, it is called a "Heating
Degree Day". The magnitude of the
difference is the number of days. For example,
if your average temperature for a day is 50
degrees in September, the difference of the
average temperature for that day and the
reference temperature of 65 degrees would
yield a minus 15. Therefore, you have 15
Heating Degree Days that day. If the average
temperature is 77 degrees for a day, you would
have 12 Cooling Degree Days (77-65). If
the average temperature for the day is 65
degrees, there are no Heating or Cooling
degree days. Electrical, natural gas,
power, and heating, and air conditioning
industries utilize heating and cooling degree
information to calculate their energy needs.
The Heating season runs from July 1st
through June 30th. The Cooling season runs
from Jan 1st through Dec 31st. |
| 7 |
WTR |
Total
precipitation for the day to the
nearest hundredth of an inch. This includes
all forms of precipitation, both liquid and
water equivalent of any snow or ice that
occurred (T = Trace, some precipitation fell
but not enough to measure). |
| 8 |
SNW |
Total
snowfall for the day to the nearest
tenth of an inch. |
| 9 |
DPTH |
Snow
depth on the ground to the nearest inch
at 1200UTC. 7am EST., 6am CST, 5am MST,
4am PST, 3am AST, etc. |
| 10 |
AVG
SPD |
Average
wind speed for the day in miles per hour
(mph). |
| 11 |
MX
SPD |
The
highest wind speed in mph averaged over
a 2 minute period. |
| 12 |
2MIN DIR |
The
direction (in compass degrees divided
by 10) from which the wind speed in column 11
came from. ( N=36 S=18 W=27 E=09, etc.) |
| 13 |
MIN |
The
number of minutes of sunshine received
at the station. Not reported at all
locations. |
| 14 |
PSBL |
The
percentage of possible sunshine.
Computed by dividing the minutes of sunshine
in column 13 by the total possible minutes.
Not reported at all locations. |
| 15 |
S-S |
The
average sky cover between sunrise and sunset
in tenths of sky covered. The minimum of
"0" means no clouds observed,
"10" means clouds covered the entire
sky for that day. |
| 16 |
WX |
A
coded number representing certain types of weather
observed during the day.
1 = Fog
2 = Fog reducing visibility to 1/4 mile or
less
3 = Thunder
4 = Ice pellets
5 = Hail
6 = Glaze or rime
7 = Blowing dust or sand: visibility 1/2 mile
or less
8 = Smoke or haze
9 = Blowing snow
X = Tornado
In the example above on the 12th, you see
"138" coded for the day. That means
Fog, Thunder and Smoke or Haze were observed
at some time during that day. |
| 17 |
SPD |
Peak
wind speed for the day in mph. The
highest wind speed observed at the station. |
| 18 |
DR |
The
compass direction from which the peak
wind speed came. |
SM is the Sum of that column.
Note; these MAY not line up exactly under the column!
Using the example shown above, the monthly snowfall
(0.1)inch is offset slightly to the right.
AV is the Average for that column
* An excerpt from
the third part of a WS Form F6 (Page 2) is shown
below. An explanation of each column of data can be
found below the example.
[TEMPERATURE DATA] [PRECIPITATION DATA] SYMBOLS USED IN COLUMN 16
AVERAGE MONTHLY: 42.7 TOTAL FOR MONTH: 5.97 1 = FOG
DPTR FM NORMAL: 3.0 DPTR FM NORMAL: 1.95 2 = FOG REDUCING VISIBILITY
HIGHEST: 80 ON 30 GRTST 24HR 2.05 ON 19-20 TO 1/4 MILE OR LESS
LOWEST: 13 ON 4 3 = THUNDER
SNOW, ICE PELLETS, HAIL 4 = ICE PELLETS
TOTAL MONTH: 10.8 INCHES 5 = HAIL
GRTST 24HR 6.5 ON 3- 3 6 = GLAZE OR RIME
GRTST DEPTH: 9 ON 4 7 = BLOWING DUST OR SAND:
VSBY 1/2 MILE OR LESS
8 = SMOKE OR HAZE
NO. OF DAYS WITH WEATHER - DAYS WITH 9 = BLOWING SNOW
X = TORNADO
MAX 32 OR BELOW: 2 0.01 INCH OR MORE: 11
MAX 90 OR ABOVE: 0 0.10 INCH OR MORE: 9
MIN 32 OR BELOW: 22 0.50 INCH OR MORE: 4
MIN 0 OR BELOW: 0 1.00 INCH OR MORE: 2
HDD (BASE 65)
TOTAL THIS MO. 687 CLEAR (SCALE 0-3) 10
DPTR FM NORMAL -122 PTCLDY (SCALE 4-7) 15
SEASONAL TOTAL 1767 CLOUDY (SCALE 8-10) 6
DPTR FM NORMAL -348
CDD (BASE 65)
TOTAL THIS MO. 4
DPTR FM NORMAL 4 PRESSURE DATA
SEASONAL TOTAL 4 HIGHEST SLP 30.45 ON 22
DPTR FM NORMAL 4 LOWEST SLP 29.50 ON 6
REMARKS
| TEMPERATURE
DATA |
Cumulative
temperature information for the month
including averages, departure from normal, and
the highest/lowest temperatures observed and
on what day they occurred. |
| NO. OF DAYS WITH |
Number of
days during the month that meet the criteria
shown. |
| HDD (BASE 65) |
Heating
degree day information based on an average
temperature of 65 degrees. Included are
the Total this Month, Departure from Normal
for the Month, the Seasonal Total and the
Seasonal Departure from Normal. The
Heating season runs from July 1st through June
30th. |
| CDD (BASE 65) |
Cooling
degree day information based on an average
temperature of 65 degrees. Included are
the Total this Month, Departure from Normal
for the Month, the Seasonal Total and the
Seasonal Departure from Normal. The
Cooling season runs from Jan 1st through Dec
31st. |
| REMARKS |
Additive
remarks made by observer. |
| PRECIPITATION DATA |
Cumulative
precipitation (for both rain and frozen
precipitation) information, for the month
including total for the month, departure from
normal for that month, greatest 24 hour amount
not necessarily midnight to midnight, and
greatest snow depth at 1200UTC. |
| WEATHER - DAYS WITH |
Number of
days during the month that meet the
temperature, precipitation and sky cover
criteria shown. |
| PRESSURE DATA |
Magnitude of
highest and lowest sea level pressure (in
inches) and the day on which it occurred. |
| SYMBOLS USED IN COLUMN 16 |
A coded
number representing certain types of weather
observed during the day.
1 = Fog
2 = Fog reducing visibility to 1/4 mile or
less
3 = Thunder
4 = Ice pellets
5 = Hail
6 = Glaze or rime
7 = Blowing dust or sand: visibility 1/2 mile
or less
8 = Smoke or haze
9 = Blowing snow
X = Tornado
|
|
www.srh.noaa.gov 
