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Snowstorm Database

Published by DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: April 12, 2026 at 09:12 PM | Dataset Last Updated: November 30, 2012 at 12:00 AM
The Snowstorm Database is a collection of over 500 snowstorms dating back to 1900 and updated operationally. Only storms having large areas of heavy snowfall (10-20 inches or greater) are included. The spatial extent includes the contiguous U.S. but the most storms are in the eastern two thirds of the U.S. This is the only comprehensive data set with starting and ending dates along with daily and total storm snowfall for large snowstorms from 1900 to the present. The data is archived in shapefile format, one shapefile per storm. Shapefiles are a non-proprietary spatial format widely used in Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Each shapefile contains daily and storm total snowfall for weather stations that were affected by the snowstorm. The snowfall data comes from the Global Historical Climatological Network - Daily (GHCN-D).

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Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
contactPoint 
                                            {
  "fn": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:ncei.orders@noaa.gov"
}
describedByType application/octet-steam
description The Snowstorm Database is a collection of over 500 snowstorms dating back to 1900 and updated operationally. Only storms having large areas of heavy snowfall (10-20 inches or greater) are included. The spatial extent includes the contiguous U.S. but the most storms are in the eastern two thirds of the U.S. This is the only comprehensive data set with starting and ending dates along with daily and total storm snowfall for large snowstorms from 1900 to the present. The data is archived in shapefile format, one shapefile per storm. Shapefiles are a non-proprietary spatial format widely used in Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Each shapefile contains daily and storm total snowfall for weather stations that were affected by the snowstorm. The snowfall data comes from the Global Historical Climatological Network - Daily (GHCN-D).
distribution 
                                            [
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Dataset Landing Page",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/metadata/geoportal/rest/metadata/item/gov.noaa.ncdc:C00464/html",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Landing page for the dataset.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Direct Download",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/snowstorm-database/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Direct download for dataset files.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI GIS Map Portal",
    "accessURL": "https://gis.ncdc.noaa.gov/maps/ncei/rsi",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "GIS map application to visualize dataset layers.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Dataset README",
    "format": "TEXT",
    "mediaType": "text/plain",
    "description": "Please refer to the README file for more information about the dataset.",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/snowstorm-database/archive/snowstorm-db_shapefile-readme_c20130529.txt",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/metadata/geoportal/rest/metadata/item/gov.noaa.ncdc:C00453/html",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Product uses the Snowstorm Database for development--a precursor to the Regional Snowfall Index.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Regional Snowfall Impact Scale",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/metadata/geoportal/rest/metadata/item/gov.noaa.ncdc:C00465/html",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Product uses the Snowstorm Database for development. It is an evolution of the NESIS, see the landing page for more information about the RSI Index",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Keywords",
    "accessURL": "https://earthdata.nasa.gov/about/gcmd/global-change-master-directory-gcmd-keywords",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "The information provided on this page seeks to define how the GCMD Keywords are structured, used and accessed. It also provides information on how users can participate in the further development of the keywords.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "GCOS Essential Climate Variables",
    "accessURL": "https://public.wmo.int/en/programmes/global-climate-observing-system/essential-climate-variables",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Overview of the GCOS Essential Climate Variables.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
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    "title": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
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  }
]
identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/aim/iso/xml/C00464.xml
issued 2012-11-30T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
                                            [
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Solid Precipitation > Snow",
  "Earth Science > Terrestrial Hydrosphere > Snow/Ice > Snow Depth",
  "Earth Science > Human Dimensions > Natural Hazards > Meteorological Hazards",
  "Precipitation",
  "Continent > North America > United States Of America",
  "Vertical Location > Land Surface",
  "Snow Measuring Rod",
  "Meteorological Stations",
  "T: Daily - < Weekly",
  "H: 10 km - < 50 km",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "Snowfall",
  "Snowstorms",
  "Societal Impacts",
  "GIS",
  "Shapefiles"
]
language 
                                            []
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2012-11-30T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
                                            {
  "name": "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
references 
                                            [
  "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/metadata/geoportal/rest/metadata/item/gov.noaa.ncdc:C00453/html",
  "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/metadata/geoportal/rest/metadata/item/gov.noaa.ncdc:C00465/html"
]
rights otherRestrictions
spatial -66.0,24.0,-125.0,50.0
temporal 1900-01-01T00:00:00+00:00/1900-01-01T00:00:00+00:00
title Snowstorm Database

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