Historical Extratropical Cyclone Tracks for the Northern Hemisphere

A 1899-1939 dataset of extratropical cyclone positions digitized from historical weather maps. It contains 12-hourly positions with direction and speed of movement for cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere. The data was archived by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) and is provided by NOAA NCEI.

Use Cases

• Analyzing storm track persistence and movement speed using the 12-hourly position and speed columns.
• Modeling historical cyclone trajectories and directional patterns across the Northern Hemisphere.
• Validating or extending reanalysis climate models with historical cyclone position data from 1899 to 1939.
• Studying the frequency and spatial distribution of extratropical cyclones in the early 20th century.

Strengths

• Covers a long historical period from January 1899 through June 1939.
• Provides specific cyclone movement metrics, including direction and speed.
• Digitized from authoritative NMC (National Meteorological Center) historical map series.

Limitations

• Data is temporally coarse, limited to 12-hourly positions despite original 6-hourly maps.
• The dataset is temporally stale, with no updates indicated since its archival in 1974.
• Limited to extratropical cyclones; anticyclone data is in a separate related file.

Provenance

Source

National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), provided by NOAA NCEI.

Collection Method

Digitized from NMC 6-hourly northern hemisphere cyclone position maps.

Time Range

January 1899 through June 1939.

Freshness

null

Geography

Northern Hemisphere.