Cutting Edge > Visualization > Visualization Collections > Weather and Climate

Weather and Climate

Resources contributed by Mark McCaffrey at CIRES-NOAA Paleoclimatology (more info)

GIS-based animated maps, simple animations, photos, and static maps linked to data bases illustrate the relationship and differences between weather and climate. This section provides a vast array of information detailing different aspects of weather and climate, as well as issues relating to global warming.

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Climate Resources

average annual temperature
Interactive GIS Climate Maps (more info) . Web-based GIS maps providing an overview of global temperatures, precipitation, ecosystems, population and other layers.

temperature and precipitation data for southern US
U.S. Climatographs ( This site may be offline. ) . Web-based GIS map linking to climatographs of mean max and min temperature and precipitation for selected U.S. cites.

climate diagnostic center plots
Climate Diagnostics Center Plots (more info) . Through static map interface, provides access to plots of current and historical usa temperature, precipitation and PDSI drought maps, allowing users to plot the raw data.

Global Climate Animations (more info) . Flash animations and animated .gif files that show the climatology of the seasonal cycle for the time period 1959-1997 for variables including the global energy balance, global water balance, atmospheric circulation and winds, and global temperature.

  • CDC U.S. Climatographs (more info) . Static map-based interface providing access to the Climate Diagnostic Center's climatographs of temperature and precipitation for selected U.S. cities based on 30 year normals.

  • NRCS Climate Pages (more info) . Static maps and links to data and graphs for U.S. states, counties and basins from USDA National Resources Conservation Service.


    • Realtime Streamflow
    U.S.G.S. Realtime Streamflow (more info) Static maps of U.S. states providing near-real time access to stream gauge station data and associated graphs.

    Weather Forecasting, Warnings and Data

    Montana Weather Information
    Interactive Weather Information Network (more info) . A graphically intensive array of National Weather Service visualizations and data, including local weather, national weather warnings, global weather and satellite images.

    Global Warming Evidence

    climate animation
    WWW Animations of the CRU-UK Temperature Record: 1856 to 1997 (CRU - Climate Research Unit) (more info) . Java animations of reconstructed climates for the Last 150 years

    1. Annual averages from 1856 to 1997.
    2. Seasonal averages, Dec/Jan/Feb from 1856 to 1997.
    3. Seasonal averages, Mar/Apr/May from 1856 to 1997.
    4. Seasonal averages, Jun/Jul/Aug from 1856 to 1997.
    5. Seasonal averages, Sep/Oct/Nov from 1856 to 1997.
    6. All seasons sequentially from 1856 to 1997