Severe events have the potential to damage life and property. National Weather Service observers keep a comprehensive record describing 48 different types of severe events, from localized thunderstorms, tornadoes, and flash floods to regional events such as hurricanes, derechos, and winter storms.
Where do these data come from?
These data are collected by the National Weather Service. Weather offices detect events using insturments and visual observations, and they also receive information from storm spotters—people who call in to report severe events. Tornadoes, high wind speeds, and storm cell data are collected with radar.
Events in this official NOAA database are selected based upon the following criteria:
- Storm has sufficient intensity to cause loss of life, injuries, significant property damage, and/or disruption to commerce.
- Storm event contains rare, unusual, weather phenomena or significant meteorological events, such as extreme temperature.
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What can I do with these data?
Search the database to find when and where various storm events occurred. You can search by date, location (at the county level), or event type. View results online, or download data for analysis or graphing in a spreadsheet. Analyze the data to explore questions such as:
- Were there injuries to human life and/or property or crop damage?
- How many events happened in a given time period?
- How do events compare across various states and regions, or over time?
How do I use the site?
Use the selection menus to:
- Select a State or Area to find events within a particular region.
- Use the Narrative Text Search field to find records for phrases such as "Hurricane Katrina"
Using the State or Area search, you can refine your search
- Set begin and end dates to indicate the period of interest
- Go with --All-- for the entire state, or select a specific county
- Go with --All-- for all storm events, or select a specific event type
- Click Search
Summary information for your search describes statistics such as number of days with the event(s) for which you searched (for up to 500 events). You can interact with the table of storm events, sorting by various parameters and clicking location links to get more specific information.
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Data Format(s)CSV
Access Type Link & Description Subsetting -
Data TypeRadar, Severe weatherEssential Climate VariablesAir temperature, ,Science OrganizationNOAA NCDCEmailncdc.orders@noaa.gov
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