WPC Products in GIS Format


A subset of WPC's product suite is now provided in a GIS (Geographic Information System) Shapefile format. Products are available for download via the NCEP anonymous FTP server at ftp.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/shapefiles.

If clicking on the above link does not work, then access can be gained by:

  1. FTPing to ftp.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov
  2. At the "User" prompt, type anonymous
  3. For the password, use your e-mail address
  4. Change directories to "shapefiles" ( cd shapefiles )
At this point, you will see four subdirectories:

The .tar files in each subdirectory contain the required three files (.dbf, .shp, .shx) to import and display using most GIS software packages. Additionally, a fourth file (.prj) is included and provides map projection information in order to align correctly with other geodata files.

In addition, there is a page ftp.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/shapefiles/gis_documentation.html (updated February 5, 2009) which contains information about the GIS files, including updates on any changes to directory contents, file names, or file contents.  While much of this information is presented below, the most complete and up-to-date information will be found on the documentation page.

For fop products, the file naming convention is fop_yyyymmdd.tar, where:

For heatindex products, there are subdirectories corresponding to the issuance date. Within these subdirectories are files containing the Daily Mean, Minimum, and Maximum Heat Index forecasts for Days 3-7 over the contiguous U.S. The file naming convention is prodhi_yyyymmddfhhh.tar, where:
Example: The file meanhi_20070606f120.tar is the Day 5 Daily Mean Heat Index forecast issued on June 6, 2007 and valid June 11, 2007.

For  qpf, the file naming convention is ppp_yyyymmddcc.tar, where:
Examples:
In the day1 subdirectory, the file 93e_2006071100.tar is the second period 6-hour QPF from the July 11th, 2006 00Z cycle (the 6-hour period covering 06-12Z on July 11th).

The file 94q_2006071100.tar is the Day 1 24-hour QPF from the July 11th, 2006 00Z cycle (00Z July 11th through 00Z July 12th).

Notes:

  1. The Day 4-5 QPF has a four-character product identifier (p48i).
  2. The Day 1-2 QPF's product identifier is day12.
  3. The Day 1-3 QPF's product identifier is day13.

As of September 23, 2008, the labeling of the attributes for the QPF products has been modified to provide more information about the contours. The primary change was to include a valid date and time for each forecast.

View information about WPC's QPF products, including a more detailed description of valid time periods and file naming conventions.

For winter weather products (in the ww subdirectory), the files are named as follows:

dayx_psnow_gt_nn_yyyymmddcc.tar for snow products. dayx_picez_gt_nn_yyyymmddcc.tar for freezing rain products.
Notes:  Separate directories exist for each of the forecast days (day1, day2 and day3).

As of October 6, 2008, the labeling of the attributes for the winter weather products has been modified to provide more information about the contours.  The probability products are more clearly labeled and include a valid date and time for each forecast.

View information about WPC's winter weather products.