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    • Daily mean air temperature data for the North American Great Lakes based on coastal weather stations; 1897-2023 (NCEI Accession 0291722)

    Metadata Updated: February 1, 2026

    Daily maximum and minimum air temperature data were obtained from the Global Historical Climatology Network daily (GHCNd, Menne, et al. 2012) and the Great Lakes Air Temperature/Degree Day Climatology, 1897-1983 (Assel et al. 1995). Daily air temperature was calculated by taking a simple average of daily maximum and minimum air temperature. To accurately capture climate trends and variability, it is critical to ensure data consistency across the historical record, such as spatial coverage, a number of representative weather stations, and measurement details (e.g., sensor types and heights, measurement protocols) as any inconsistencies could result in apparent climate change in the data record. Bearing this in consideration and following Cohn et al. (2021), a total of 24 coastal locations along the Great Lakes were selected (see Figure 1 in the Method Document). These 24 locations had relatively consistent station data records since the 1890s while data from other locations had large gaps in time, or had inconsistencies among data from neighboring stations. Each of the selected locations had multiple weather stations in their proximity covering the historical period from 1890s to 2023, representing the weather conditions around the location. Only a couple of stations covered the whole historical period (e.g., Green Bay, WI). Therefore, for most of the locations, datasets from multiple stations in the proximity of each location were combined to create a continuous data record from the 1890s to 2023 (see Table 1 in the Method Document for station information and periods for which the station data was used). When doing so, data consistency was verified by comparing the data during the period when station datasets overlap. This procedure resulted in almost continuous timeseries, except for a few locations that still had temporal gaps of one to several days (e.g., Escanaba, MI). Therefore, any temporal data gap less than 10 days in the combined timeseries were filled based on the linear interpolation. This resulted in completely continuous timeseries for all the locations.

    Average daily air temperature was calculated from January 1, 1897 to October 22, 2023 by simply making an average of timeseries data from corresponding locations around each lake. This resulted in daily air temperature records for all five Great Lakes (Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario).

    The cumulative freezing degree days (CFDDs) and the net melting degree days (NMDDs) were also added to this version of the dataset. The description of the calculation methods for CFDD and NMDD can be found in the method document included in this dataset.

    Access & Use Information

    License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Date 2025-10-01T13:13:51Z
    Metadata Created Date February 1, 2025
    Metadata Updated Date February 1, 2026
    Reference Date(s) April 25, 2024 (publication), April 22, 2025 (revision), April 23, 2024 (creation)
    Frequency Of Update asNeeded

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions

    Other Data Resources

    Graphic Preview

    Preview graphic

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Date 2025-10-01T13:13:51Z
    Metadata Created Date February 1, 2025
    Metadata Updated Date February 1, 2026
    Reference Date(s) April 25, 2024 (publication), April 22, 2025 (revision), April 23, 2024 (creation)
    Responsible Party (Point of Contact)
    Contact Email
    Guid gov.noaa.nodc:0291722
    Access Constraints Cite as: Fujisaki-Manome, Ayumi; Cannon, David; King, Katelyn (2024). Daily mean air temperature data for the North American Great Lakes based on coastal weather stations; 1897-2023 (NCEI Accession 0291722). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/ws45-s314. Accessed [date]., Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
    Bbox East Long -75.6
    Bbox North Lat 49.12
    Bbox South Lat 41.2
    Bbox West Long -92.5
    Coupled Resource
    Frequency Of Update asNeeded
    Graphic Preview Description Preview graphic
    Graphic Preview File https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/gfx?id=gov.noaa.nodc:0291722
    Graphic Preview Type PNG
    Harvest Object Id 32b63a0e-393e-4f8f-9c4c-9a9bb0639fad
    Harvest Source Id c084a438-6f6b-470d-93e0-16aeddb9f513
    Harvest Source Title NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions
    Licence accessLevel: Public
    Lineage
    Metadata Language eng
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-92.5, 41.2], [-75.6, 41.2], [-75.6, 49.12], [-92.5, 49.12], [-92.5, 41.2]]]}
    Progress completed
    Spatial Data Service Type
    Spatial Reference System
    Spatial Harvester True
    Temporal Extent Begin 1897-01-01
    Temporal Extent End 2023-10-22

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