Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to content
  • Feedback

    • Reference Climatological Stations

    Metadata Updated: September 19, 2023

    The Reference Climatological Stations (RCS) network represents the first effort by NOAA to create and maintain a nationwide network of stations located only in areas where no changes in the surroundings are foreseen. Efforts to establish the network began in 1954 by the National Weather Service. The network became operational in 1966 with the selection of fifteen stations from a list of 28 candidate sites; six more were added as the network expanded. Most stations were located at university agricultural experiment stations. Core data elements include temperature, rainfall, and wind speed & direction. Some stations also measured evaporation and soil temperature. Observations were taken daily by volunteer observers, and were a subset of the extensive NWS Cooperative Observations network. Stations were assigned Cooperative Station IDs, but were provided with special forms on which to record wind speed and direction, elements not recorded at other Coop stations.

    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 June 23, 2023
    Metadata Created Date October 28, 2022
    Metadata Updated Date September 19, 2023
    Reference Date(s) []
    Frequency Of Update notPlanned

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from ncdc

    Other Data Resources

    Graphic Preview

    Map of RCS stations

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Date June 23, 2023
    Metadata Created Date October 28, 2022
    Metadata Updated Date September 19, 2023
    Reference Date(s) []
    Responsible Party NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (Point of Contact)
    Contact Email
    Guid gov.noaa.ncdc:C01300
    Access Constraints Cite this dataset when used as a source., Distribution liability: NOAA and NCEI make no warranty, expressed or implied, regarding these data, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA and NCEI cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data. If appropriate, NCEI can only certify that the data it distributes are an authentic copy of the records that were accepted for inclusion in the NCEI archives., 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 -66.0
    Bbox North Lat 50.0
    Bbox South Lat 24.0
    Bbox West Long -125.0
    Coupled Resource
    Frequency Of Update notPlanned
    Graphic Preview Description Map of RCS stations
    Graphic Preview File https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/metadata/images/C01300_dsi3230.jpg
    Graphic Preview Type JPEG
    Harvest Object Id 3abe9fb4-b4ac-4e13-999d-11df89ca069f
    Harvest Source Id 2cb3ef77-1683-4c2a-9119-dc65e50917c6
    Harvest Source Title ncdc
    Licence
    Lineage Observations were taken by volunteer observers under the supervision of the National Weather Service. The NWS collected and submitted observation forms to NCDC, where the data were key-entered to produce this dataset.
    Metadata Language eng; USA
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-125.0, 24.0], [-66.0, 24.0], [-66.0, 50.0], [-125.0, 50.0], [-125.0, 24.0]]]}
    Progress completed
    Spatial Data Service Type
    Spatial Reference System
    Spatial Harvester True
    Temporal Extent Begin 1986-01-01
    Temporal Extent End 1986-09-30

    Didn't find what you're looking for? Suggest a dataset here.