Part 2 — Download Weather Data

In any step, click the Show me link to reveal extra information. If you prefer a printout of the full set of instructions for this part, choose Print from the File menu.

Step 1-
Navigate to the Weather Data

Access the National Climatic Data Center, and in the menu area along the left side of the screen, under the heading Purchase, click Most Popular. On the new page that opens, notice in the first paragraph that this data is available for free if you connect to the NOAA Web site from a server that is in an edu, k-12, gov, or mil domain.

Scroll down to the section labeled Most Requested I. This data collection is labeled Surface Summary of the Day. At the left end of the section, click on the link that reads 1. 3200-3210/CDO. On the next new page that opens, click the button with the text, Continue with SIMPLIFIED Options.

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  1. On the home page of the National Climatic Data Center, in the menu area along the left side of the screen, under the heading Purchase, click Most Popular .
    Home page of NOAA's NCDC site

  2. On the new page that opens, notice in the first paragraph that this data is available for free if you connect to the NOAA Web site from a server that is in an edu, k-12, gov, or mil domain. Scroll down to the section labeled Most Requested I. This data collection is labeled Surface Summary of the Day. At the left end of the section, click on the link that reads 1. 3200-3210/CDO.
    This image shows the section of the web site where you can order data from the set called surface summary of the day.

  3. On the next new page that opens, click the button with the text, Continue with SIMPLIFIED Options
    A portion of the N.O.A.A. web site used to the type of climate data form

Step 2-
Choose the State, Weather Station, and Time Frame, and order the Data

Select Massachusetts and then click Continue. Scroll down to the Boston Logan Int'L Arpt weather station, select it, and click Continue. Select the date range for the year of 2000 and click Continue. This will open a new window where you can review your order, review the Inventory File, and click the Inventory Review box. Finally, enter your e-mail address and click Submit Request.

Note: If you do not have the option to order data from NOAA free of charge, you can still download the data for this chapter for free, courtesy of NCDC. Use the links at the bottom of this page.

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  1. Scroll to Massachusetts, select it, and click Continue.
    A portion of the N.O.A.A. web site used to select a state

  2. Scroll to the Boston Logan weather station, select it, and click Continue.
    Window showing several Massachusetts weather stations, with Boston Logan station selected.

  3. Select the date range for the year 2000 and click Continue.
    A portion of the N.O.A.A. web site used to enter the data range.

  4. In the box that opens, review your order, review the Inventory File, and click the Inventory Review box. Finally, enter your e-mail address and click Submit Request.
    This image shows the summary of data you are ready to request, and includes a place where you enter your e-mail address and a button for submitting your request for the data to NOAA..


    5. Note: If you do not have the option to order data from NOAA free of charge, you can still download the data for this chapter for free, courtesy of NCDC. Use the links at the bottom of this page.

Step 3-
Downloading Free Weather Data (See Step 4 for Purchasing Weather Data)

Once you have submitted your request for weather data, a new Web page will open confirming your order. It will also have a link to your data. The data may not be available immediately, but it should be available within a matter of minutes. You will receive e-mail notification when the data is available.

This image shows the message that confirms your order has been submitted for processing. It also shows the link you can click to get to the data on the NOAA web site.

When you click on the link to download the weather data, a new screen will open with links to four data sets. (You will receive these same four links in the notification e-mail.) The top two links (Web Form and ASCII File) link to the data you need.

This image shows the web site with links to the data you have ordered.

Use Control-Click (Mac) or Right-Click (PC) to download the Web Form and ASCII File data to your computer. Save the Web Form as Weather_2000.html. Save the ASCII File as Weather_2000.txt

The Web Form and the ASCII File contain the same data, but in two different forms.

  1. The ASCII File holds the weather data in a format that can be imported into Excel and graphed. The only weather data used in the graph is precipitation data.
  2. The Web Form displays the data in a PDF format. You should print this and have copies available during the investigation, since it let's users see all of the weather for every day, and not just the precipitation. Some of that data, for example snow cover or air temperature, provides an important context that can support the analysis of the data

Step 4-
Purchasing Weather Data from NOAA

If you do not have access to a server in an edu, k-12, gov, or mil domain, you can purchare NOAA weather data. The data you'll need for this investigation will cost approximately $10. If you need to purchase the data you'll see a button with the text Add to Shopping Cart

This image shows the data you are about to order. The button lets you add it to your shoping cart.

When you click to add the the data to your shopping cart, the message below, informing you about the need to accept cookies on your computer, will open.

This image shows the window that informs you of the need to set cookies on your computer in order to proceed.

Once you click Continue you will advance through a lengthy series of forms in which you:

At this point, the steps for downloading the data are same as described in Step 3 above.


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Use Control-Click (Mac) or Right Click (PC) to download the Web Form weather_2000.html (HTML File 71kB Apr17 07) and the ASCII File weather_2000.txt (Text File 20kB Apr24 07).


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