WRIT Pages: Index Time-series
Information:Index time-series page are listed in the table that follow along with a link to the data values and documentation. While we attempt to keep time-series updated, some time-series may not be. More recent data may be available at the source.. Please also note that indices even for the same phenomena may not be defined the same way. As an example, some teleconnections are defined by a pattern for one season while another source may use a pattern that changes seasonally. Climatologies may differ, input datasets may differ, and so forth. Some index time-series may not be defined for all months. Users need to look at the data and documentation to determine if it is useful for them and how to interpret results. Also note that all time-series in the PSL format start in January even if the actual data doesn't start until later in year. Similarly all time-series end in December. Missing values are to fill in 12 months of values, if needed.
Citations: Time-series should be properly cited in publications. Our suggestion is to use the italicized citation follow by "Accessed [Day] [Month] [Year] from https://psl.noaa.gov/data/writ/". For example
Time-series
Name | Description | Start Date1 | End Date | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
Atlantic Meridional Mode (AMM) | Describes meridional variability in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. | Jan 1948 | Dec 2024 | U of Wisconsin |
Dipole Mode Index (DMI or IOD) | A difference in SST between the east and west tropical Indian pacific ocean. | Jan 1870 | Sep 2024 | NOAA/PSL |
Hurricane : Atlantic Days | Number of days where hurricanes are active in the Northern Atlantic Basin | Jan 1851 | Dec 2022 | Col St Univ |
Hurricane: Atlantic ACE | Accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) in the Northern Atlantic Basin. | Jan 1851 | Dec 2022 | Col St Univ |
Hurricane: NW Pacific Days | Number of days where hurricanes are active in the Northwestern Pacific Basin. | Jan 1950 | Dec 2021 | Col St Univ |
Hurricane: NW Pacific ACE | Accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) in the Northwestern Pacific Basin. | Jan 1950 | Dec 2021 | Col St Univ |
Hurricane: NE Pacific Days | Number of days where hurricanes are active in the Northeastern Pacific Basin. | Jan 1971 | Dec 2021 | Col St Univ |
Hurricane: NE Pacific ACE | Accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) in the Northeastern Pacific Basin. | Jan 1971 | Dec 2021 | Col St Univ |
North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO) | A climate pattern derived from sea surface heights in the NE Pacific that is associated with fluctuations in the content of the California Current and the Gulf of Alaska. | Jan 1950 | Aug 2024 | E. Di Lorenzo |
Niño 1+2 (HadISST) | SST anomaly 0N-10S, 90W-80W; eastern tropical Pacific time-series. | Jan 1870 | Dec 2024 | NOAA/PSL |
Niño 3 (HadISST) | SST anomaly 5N-5S,150W-90W | Jan 1870 | Dec 2024 | NOAA/PSL |
Niño 3.4 (HadISST) | SST anomaly 5N-5S,170W-120W | Jan 1870 | Dec 2024 | NOAA/PSL |
Niño 4 (HadISST) | SST anomaly 5N-5S, 160E-150W | Jan 1870 | Dec 2024 | NOAA/PSL |
Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI Extended) | Original MEI extended back in time using a slightly different method. It combined atmosphere/ocean variables to produce an ENSO timeseries. | Jan 1871 | Dec 2005 | NOAA/PSL |
Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI V2) | SST and 5 atmospheric variables are combined using EOFs of the tropical Pacific to create a single index. | Jan 1979 | Jan 2025 | NOAA/PSL |
Oceanic Niño Index (ONI) | Three month running mean of ERSST.v5 SST anomalies in the Niño 3.4 region, based on the 1971-2000 base period. | Jan 1950 | Dec 2024 | NOAA/CPC |
Pacific Decadal Oscillation U of Washington (PDOUW) | PDO is the leading EOF of monthly SSTA in the North Pacific, between 20N-70N. The NOAA OI SST V2 is used to create this version. | Jan 1900 | Jun 2022 | U of Washington |
Pacific Meridional Mode (PMM) | Describes meridional variability in the tropical Pacific Ocean. | Jan 1948 | Dec 2024 | U of Wisconsin |
Trans-Niño Index (TNI) | The TNI is an index of the east/west SST difference in the tropical Pacific ocean. | Jan 1870 | Oct 2024 | NOAA/PSL |
?Tripole Index (TPI) | Description | Jan 1870 | 2015 | NOAA/PSL |
Equatorial Central Pacific Heat Content: 160E-80W | Equatorial Upper 300m temperature average anomaly based on 1981-2010 Climatology (deg C) for 160E-80W. | Jan 1979 | Dec 2024 | NOAA/PSL |
Name | Description | Start Date1 | End Date | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
Arctic Oscillation (AO) | The AO pattern is the 1st EOF of 1000mb heights north of 20N. It measures the strength of the sea level pressure within the Arctic circle. | Jan 1950 | Aug 2024 | NOAA/CPC |
CO2 at Mauna Loa | CO2 Measurements monthly averaged at the NOAA/GSL Mauna Loa station in Hawaii. | Jan 1958 | Jul 2024 | NOAA/GML |
CO2: Global Average | Global Average of CO2 | Jan 1979 | May 2024 | NOAA/GML |
North Pacific Index (NP) | The NP Index is a measure of the Sea Level Pressure in the North Pacific Ocean. It measures long (interannual-decadal) variations. | Jan 1899 | Oct 2024 | NCAR |
Aleutian Low: Beaufort Sea Anticyclone (ALBSA) | An index that combines E/W, N/S 850mb differences in north Pacific/Arctic to capture troposphereic circulation variability in that region | Jan 1948 | Aug 2024 | NOAA/GSL/PSL |
North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) | The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index is based on the surface sea-level pressure difference around the Azores and over Iceland. | Jan 1658 | Jan 2025 | NOAA/NGDC |
Greenland Blocking Index (GBI) | GBI is the mean 500 hPa geopotential height for the 60-80°N, 20-80°W region. It measures blocking (winds) over Greenland | Jan 1851 | May 2015 | NOAA/PSL |
Reconstructed North Atlantic Oscillation (RNAO) | The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index is based on the surface sea-level pressure difference between the Subtropical (Azores) High and the Subpolar Low. | Jan 1870 | Jul 2001 | NOAA/PSL |
Quasi-biennial Oscillation (QBO) | The quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) is a quasiperiodic oscillation of the equatorial zonal wind between easterlies and westerlies in the tropical stratosphere. It is typically calculated from the zonal mean 30mb winds. | Jan 1948 | Jan 2025 | NOAA/PSL |
Pacific North American Index (PNA) | The PNA pattern represents an alternating pressure pattern with associated changes in the East Asian Jet. | Jan 1950 | Jan 2025 | NOAA/CPC |
Southern Annular Mode (SAM) | Southern Annular Mode | Jan 1851 | near present | NOAA/PSL |
Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) | A sea-saw oscillation of surface pressure in the western Pacific. It is defined as Tahiti minus Darwin. It is strongly related to ENSO. | Jan 1866 | Feb 2024 | UEA CRU |
Name | Description | Start Date1 | End Date | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
N. Sierra 8 station precipitation time-series | A regional time-series of the Northern Sierra's precipitation. | Oct 1920 | Dec 2024 | CDEC/DWR California |
C. Sierra 5 station precipitation time-series | A regional time-series of the Central Sierra's precipitation. | Oct 1913 | Dec 2024 | CDEC/DWR California |
S. Sierra 6 station precipitation time-series | A regional time-series of the Southern Sierra's precipitation. | Nov 1921 | Dec 2024 | CDEC/DWR California |
Upper Colorado Basin precipitation | A regional timeseries of the Upper Colorado River basin using Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) data. | Jan 1895 | Dec 2019 | NOAA/PSL |
Name | Description | Start Date1 | End Date | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
NASA Global Land Temperature | Globally averaged temperature over land using the NASA GISTEMP anomaly dataset. Land is from GHCN. | Jan 1880 | Dec 2024 | NASA |
NASA Global Land/Ocean Temperature | Globally averaged temperature land/ocean anomalies using the NASA GISTEMP anomaly dataset. Land is from GHCN. | Jan 1850 | Dec 2024 | NASA |
Berkeley Global Land Temperature | Globally averaged temperature anomalies over land from Berkeley Earth. | Jan 1750 | Dec 2024 | Berkeley Earth |
Berkeley Global Land/Ocean Temperature | Globally averaged land/ocean temperature anomalies from Berkeley Earth. Ocean is from HadSST3. | Jan 1850 | Dec 2024 | Berkeley Earth |
CRU Global Land Temperature | Globally averaged temperature anomalies using the CRUTEM5 land dataset | Jan 1850 | Dec 2024 | UEA CRU |
CRU Global Land/Ocean Temperature | Globally averaged land/ocean temperature anomalies using the HadCRUT5 dataset | Jan 1850 | Dec 2024 | UEA CRU |
Name | Description | Start Date1 | End Date | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
Northern Hemisphere Ice Area | Satellite derived Northern Hemisphere sea ice area, intended for use in trend analysis. | Nov 1978 | Jan 2025 | NSIDC |
Northern Hemisphere Ice Extent | Satellite derived Northern Hemisphere sea ice extent, intended for use in trend analysis. | Nov 1978 | Jan 2025 | NSIDC |
Southern Hemisphere Ice Area | Satellite derived Southern Hemisphere sea ice area, intended for use in trend analysis. | Nov 1978 | Jan 2025 | NSIDC |
Southern Hemisphere Ice Extent | Satellite derived Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent, intended for use in trend analysis. | Nov 1978 | Jan 2025 | NSIDC |
Sunspot Count | A count of observed sunspot. Observations are by eye throughout the whole time-series. | Jan 1749 | Nov 2024 | WDC-SILSO |
Solar Flux (10.7cm) | Observed 10.7cm average monthly Solar Flux. | Jan 1948 | Oct 2024 | NRC Canada |
Upper Colorado Basin Temperature | The time-series has the monthly temperature averaged over the Upper Colorado River Basin using the NOAA/NCEI GHCN 5km gridded dataset. | Jan 1895 | Dec 2019 | NOAA/PSL |
Lee's Ferry Natural Streamflow (upper CO Basin Streamflow) | The time-series has the measured streamflow at Lee's Ferry and thus represents the upper Colorado Basin streamflow. | Oct 1905 | Dec 2017 | NOAA/PSL |