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Tutorial: Acquire historical temperature data
Historical temperature data has been collected at some weather stations since the late 1800’s. The NASA
Goddard Institute for Space Studies has collated weather station data from around the world and provides access
to the data in the form of graphs and text files through an easy to use graphical user interface. Time series graphs
of the annual average temperature for each weather station are automatically generated within this web site.
Monthly and seasonal data for each year are also available by downloading the data and importing it into MS
Excel or other spreadsheet program.
Weather stations provide more information than is available through this NASA GISS interface. See the United
States Historical Climatology Network web site and tutorial if more extensive weather data within the U.S. is
required for your project. For example, daily weather data is available through the USHCN web site.
For annual and monthly data from NASA GISS:
1. Open the NASA GISS Surface Temperature database
(http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/station_data/)
2. Scroll down to see map. Click on the map in the region
of interest to see what nearby temperature stations are
available. Choose the site of interest for your project.
3. Click on the name of the station to view the graph of the annual average temperature for each year of the
recorded history. If you would like to save or copy the graph, Place mouse over the graph and click the
right mouse button. Select “copy” if you want to paste the graphic in a report or other text document.
4. For more advanced analysis or higher
quality graphics, explore options for
accessing the data directly or
downloading graphics in postscript
format.
a. click on Monthly data as text and
a text data file will appear. The
file can be saved or the data can
be copied.
b. For Saved files:
i. Right click on the text file
and save the file to your hard
drive.
Tutorial prepared for the Project-Based Global Climate Change Education Project, funded by NASA GCCE
Copyright © 2011, Office of Educational Partnerships, Clarkson University, Potsdam NY
http://www.clarkson.edu/highschool/Climate_Change_Education/index.html
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ii. open MS Excel and the file: open the text file (“file”  “open”, select “all files (*,*)” from list,
click on text file just created). The file is a “fixed width” file type, Excel should accurately
preselect the appropriate column settings, then click “finish” to finalize importing the text file
into excel. Save the file as an excel file. There are more detailed directions for saving these
files in the Excel Tutorial.
c. For copied data
i. use “ctrl-A” to select all data and copy the data
ii. Open Excel, click on cell A1 and paste the contents of the clipboard. You now need to convert
this from a text file to columns of values. Select the “Data” tab then click on the “text to
columns” option. The file is a “fixed width” file type, Excel should accurately preselect the
appropriate column settings, then click “finish” to finalize importing the text file into excel.
Save the file as an excel file.
d. A portion of the excel file is shown below. Monthly average, seasonal averages and the annual
average temperatures are in degrees Celsius. Missing data are represented by “999.9”. Use Find
(“Ctrl-f”) to identify all 999.9 and fill the “replace” option with an empty cell (just type a space (hit
spacebar) into the replace box). The data can now be used for statistical analysis or your own
graphics.
YEAR
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC
DJF
MAM
JJA
SON
metANN
1900
-6.7
-7.4
-6.3
6.5
12
18.7
20.9
22
17
13
2.2
-5.1
-5.8
4.1
20.5
10.7
7.39
1901
-6.9
-11.2
-2.2
7.2
13.1
19.2
22.5
21
16.3
9.8
-0.5
-4.4
-7.7
6
20.9
8.5
6.93
1902
-7.7
-7.7
2.4
6.9
11.6
16.8
21
18.8
16.3
8.6
5.3
-7
-6.6
7
18.9
10.1
7.32
1903
-7
-5.1
3.9
6.3
14.3
16.1
19.9
17.3
16.2
9.6
0.1
-8
-6.4
8.2
17.8
8.6
7.05
1904
-12.1
-12.1
-2.1
4.6
14.9
18.9
20
18.5
14.2
7.6
0
-9.8
-10.7
5.8
19.1
7.3
5.37
1905
-10.3
-11.3
-2.4
5.2
12.4
18
21.3
18.9
15.7
9.2
0.8
-4.1
-10.5
5.1
19.4
8.6
5.64
1906
-2.6
-6.9
-4.1
6.2
11.9
19.1
20.7
21.5
17.2
9.3
0.7
-7.8
-4.5
4.7
20.4
9.1
7.41
1907
-8.4
-10.5
0.6
3.7
9.4
17.8
20
18.3
16
6.9
2
-2.3
-8.9
4.6
18.7
8.3
5.67
1908
-7.6
-9.5
-0.9
5
14.4
19.1
21.2
19.3
17.7
11.4
3.4
-4.6
-6.5
6.2
19.9
10.8
7.6
1909
-5.6
-5.2
-2.7
6
12
18.4
19.5
19.4
14.9
7.8
4.6
-6.2
-5.1
5.1
19.1
9.1
7.04
1910
999.9
999.9
3.1
9.2
11.6
16.9
20.7
19.7
14.7
10
0.6
-9.3
999.9
8
19.1
8.4
7.28
1911
-6.7
-7.5
-2.5
5.5
16.7
17.8
22.1
20.3
14.7
9.4
0.8
-0.1
-7.8
6.6
20.1
8.3
6.77
Tutorial prepared for the Project-Based Global Climate Change Education Project, funded by NASA GCCE
Copyright © 2011, Office of Educational Partnerships, Clarkson University, Potsdam NY
http://www.clarkson.edu/highschool/Climate_Change_Education/index.html