March 15, 2006 (Vol. 26, No. 6)

URL:
http://www.nrel.colostate.edu/~jhicke/climate_data

Rating:
Strong Points: Extensive databases, plots
Weak Points: Cryptic in places

Summary:
Suppose you need climatic data for an environmental impact project you are putting together, who are you going to call? OK, “calling” is so last century. You’re more likely to enter the URL above and take a gander at Jeff Hicke’s amazing climate data plotting page, hosted at Colorado State University. The opening page shows a map of the continental U.S., and visitors can select regions from which to obtain plots of climate data by entering a number (25 different regions of the country) or (gasp!) a latitude and longitude. Options for selecting altitude ranges, types of data, and time period are all available at the click of a button. Dates span the years 1870 to 2005, and a page describing the acronyms and various data types is also available to help newbies. This is an awesome collection that must have been a tremendous effort to put together.

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