NCEP/EMC U.S. Stage IV imagery
Summary
This dataset contains the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Environmental Modeling Center (EMC) GIF Imagery including Hourly Stage II GIF, Daily Stage II GIF, Daily RFC GIF, 6-Hourly Stage IV GIF, and Daily Stage IV GIF. Depending on the time period selected, all GIF types may or may not be available. Please see the GCIP/EOP: Surface NCEP Ancillary Catalogue of Available GCIP Precipitation Data (NCEP/EMC). This dataset is provided as is and was not quality controlled by UCAR/JOSS. Beginning 1 Jan 2002, the analysis grid has been changed to conform with the official NWS HRAP grid. File names have also been changed. See the readme provided with this dataset for details. As of April 2017 this data includes Alaska and Puerto Rico stations.
Archive note
27 March 2020 - Data for 01 January 2020 was added when it was determined that this date had been omitted.
15 January 2020 - Data for 26 September 2019 was added when it was determined that this date had been omitted.
31 August 2020: Start and end dates/times on the files were updated.
7 October 2020: Stage 2 files will not be available after 28 July 2020.
7 October 2020: As of 20 July 2020, file names changed from st4*.gif to st4_conus*.gif. Starting on 20 July 2020, if both files exist, please refer to the st4_conus*.gif file for the most complete data.
4 February 2021: Files missing from January 2002, April 2003, January 2012, and January 2020 were added.
Missing Data:
January 28 - 30, 2019 - some stage 4 data missing
April 4, 2019 - all data missing
September 26, 2019 - all data missing
November 21, 2019 - some stage 2 missing
January 1, 2020 - all stage 4 and some stage 2 missing
26 March 2025: From December 9 - December 30, 2024, many Northwestern Region station data were excluded in the QPE data that were sent to NCEP for the Stage IV analysis. Observations from many rain gauge stations in the region from along the southern border of Washington State extended to Central Washington were excluded in the original QPE data for this time period so users should use the Stage IV precipitation analysis with caution for this period.
Data access
Additional information
Temporal coverage
Begin datetime | 2001-12-31 12:00:01 |
End datetime | 2025-03-31 23:00:00 |
Spatial coverage
Map data from IBCSO, IBCAO, and Global Topography.
Maximum (North) Latitude:
71.413,
Minimum (South) Latitude:
17.853
Minimum (West) Longitude:
-176.836,
Maximum (East) Longitude:
-65.544
Primary point of contact information
Additional contact information
- author: Jun Du <jun.du@noaa.gov>
Citation
Du, J. 2011. NCEP/EMC U.S. Stage IV imagery. Version 1.0. UCAR/NCAR - Earth Observing Laboratory. https://doi.org/10.26023/V0KW-KG0V-9J0W. Accessed 18 May 2025.
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