[wxqc] Station Climate Data Files

[Dave Helms]

Hi All:

Hey... is February 1st, time to start your 2006 climate data collection 
and processing!

My data logging application does not really do what I want it to do so I 
developed my own Excel spread sheet and I populate it every month.  Over 
the last several years I have developed a modest station climatology of 
4 years by borrowing from the Baltimore-Washington Internationals (BWI) 
station means and using the station's data as a temporary climatology 
baseline (in another 6 years I will have enough statistics to form my 
own station's stats).  I monitor BWI climate data and other area 
stations to see if my data are in the ball-park.

Here are some examples of the Excel files I have developed for 
processing my station's climate data:

CW0351 Station Summary for 2005:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/brookevilleweather/2005_brookeville-md.xls

CW0351 Template file for 2006 monthly climate data:  note I added daily 
mean max/min temperatures this year
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/brookevilleweather/2006_blank_brookeville-md.xls

Feel free to download the Excel templates and modify them for your 
uses.  You can find reference climate data on you local NWS Weather 
Forecast Office web page or go to the National Climate Data Center 
(NCDC) and order the closest COOP station climatology.

Local Climate "Clubs":  I belong to the Washington-Baltimore Climate 
Review (WBCR) which has a 20+ year history of documenting the DC Metro 
weather, quite an impressive group run by Brian Smith 
(bgs11111 at erols.com).  Brian compiles data from 200 area stations, plots 
the data and manually contours the data then snail-mails copies of his 
analyzes every month.  I encourage everyone to see if there are any 
local climate groups to participate in!

Regards,

Dave
CW0351