In order to provide comprehensive long term tracking of climate changes, the National Weather Service (NWS) and the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) supervise a nationwide Cooperative Observer Network of trained volunteers who take daily climate measurements using instruments provided by NWS in order to insure accuracy and consistency.

From November 2001 through March 2012, at Athens, Ohio these observations were made each morning at 7:00 am local Eastern Time, and were transmitted to the NWS Forecast office in Charleston WV for eventual relay to NCDC.  These daily observations were discontinued April 1, 2012 due to National Weather Service funding cuts.   These observations were considered preliminary until verified and formally publishied by the NCDC.

About the file formats:  Depending on the date, there may be as many as three different data formats available to accommodate differing research interests:

Full Form B-91 Format (in PDF):  These are the most detailed, but are generally available only for the more recent years.   Hard copy of data in this format is also available at Ohio University's Alden Library in the Fifth Floor Government Documents section, and currently covers November 2001 through March 2012. Call Number/Location

Short-Form Text Format:  These are 'quick-summary' data, in flat text format, and the ones you will encounter for the 'current month'.

Comma delimited ASCII:  These are provided for users wishing to import data into spreadsheet, database, or graphing applications.  Our eventual goal is to pvoide data in this format well back into the 1950's and perhaps earlier, and this format will most likely be the only one available for this older data.

Once quality-control verified by the National Climatic Data Center, these data were included in the monthly publication "Climatological Data, Ohio".  These publications are available through Ohio University Alden Library Government Documents, and are generally released about six months after the original observations.  These monthly Ohio summaries are also available by paid subscription through the NCDC.  Users accessing the web via an internet account ending in '.edu' may also retrieve the more recent reports (in PDF) through the NCDC web site at no charge.

Athens Ohio Climatological Data Archive
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