Global Historical Monthly Climate Normals, 1901-1960

Global land areas, excluding Antarctica, are covered by this gridded dataset of 30-year mean monthly surface climate variables for the period 1901-1960. It provides seven variables at 0.5-degree resolution, including precipitation, mean temperature, and ground-frost frequency. The data was constructed using an anomaly technique relative to a 1961-1990 normal period derived from station measurements.

Use Cases

• Establishing historical climate baselines based on 30-year mean monthly data.
• Analyzing spatial patterns of temperature and precipitation over global land areas.
• Studying changes in climate variables like diurnal temperature range and wet-day frequency.
• Validating climate models using gridded historical surface climate data.

Strengths

• Provides a long-term historical baseline covering 60 years (1901-1960).
• Includes seven distinct surface climate variables for multi-faceted analysis.
• Uses a documented anomaly technique to maximize station data coverage.

Limitations

• Metadata conflicts exist: one platform lists a last update in 2026, while another shows 1961.
• The dataset excludes Antarctica, limiting global land coverage.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and detailed column structures are not provided.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Grids constructed from station measurement data using an anomaly approach relative to a 1961-1990 normal period.

Time Range

1901-1960

Freshness

2026-04-10 03:14:16.852589

Geography

Global land areas, excluding Antarctica.