/web/ftp/pub/mesowest
Directory for MesoWest data files of interest to organizations that support MesoWest and require the entire realtime data feed.

Any questions, send email to mesowest@met.utah.edu.

All files are updated every 15 minutes unless otherwise noted below.
All files are compressed using gzip. 

Files:

mesowest_csv.tbl.gz: Metadata file. Contains all stations in MesoWest, ordered by network.The format is comma delimited. A header line at the beginning of the file gives the order of the parameters. Updated every couple hours.

mesowest.tbl.gz: Metadata file  Contains stations in MesoWest which are used in mesowest.out.gz.  Updated daily at 2:00 AM Mountain time.

mesowest.dat.gz: Contains all observations inserted into the MesoWest database since the last time this file was generated. Under normal conditions the file is generated every 15 minutes. The file is comma delimited. Each row contains the MesoWest station id, the latitude, longitude, elevation (ft), network id, date and time (GMT), and all variables currently stored in MesoWest. The order of the variables is given by the PARM statement at the beginning of the file. An explanation of MesoWest variables is given at http://www.met.utah.edu/cgi-bin/database/variable_select.cgi. 


mesowest.out.gz:  Takes the observations in mesowest.dat.gz and converts to format used previous to 10/2004. The stations are ordered according to mesowest.tbl. The variable list is restricted. 

We do not recommend using the mesowest.out file format for new applications, it is intended to support legacy users.

Variable definitions for mesowest.out.gz:

 PARM = MNET;SLAT;SLON;SELV;TMPF;SKNT;DRCT;GUST;PMSL;ALTI;DWPF;RELH;WTHR;P24I

MNET- identifier that distinguishes source of information. see http://www.met.utah.edu/cgi-bin/database/mnet_no.cgi  for details
SLAT- latitude in decimal degrees
SLON- longitude in decimal degrees
SELV- elevation in m
TMPF- temperature (F)
SKNT- wind speed (kts)
DRCT- direction
GUST- gust (kts)
PMSL- sea level pressure (mb)
ALTI- altimeter (in)
DWPF- dew point (f)
RELH- relative humidity (%)
WTHR- numeric gempak weather code
P24I- precipitation accumulated since 0GMT (in)

daily_summary.dat.gz: This file contains one row per station for those stations which have had observations inserted in the database since the last time it was generated 15 minutes previously.  The first column of each row is the MesoWest station id. The second column is the date and time in GMT. The order of the rest of the columns is given by the PARM statement in the first line of the file.

Variable definitions for daily_summary.dat.gz:

   PARM=NUM;TMPF;T24X;T24N;T00X;T00N;WIND;WMAX;G00X;G24X;P24I;MNET

NUM- the number of observations in the past 24 hrs
TMPF- current temperature (F) 
T24X- maximum temperature reported in the past 24 hrs
T24N- minimum temperature reported in the past 24 hrs
T00X- maximum temperature reported since midnight Mountain time
T00N- minimum temperature reported since midnight Mountain time
WIND- current wind (kts) which is GUST if it exists, otherwise SKNT
WMAX- maximim sustained wind (kts) in the past 24 hrs
G24X- maximum gust (kts) in the past 24 hrs
G00X- maximum gust (kts) since midnight Mountain time
P24I- 24 hr precipitation total (in) 
MNET- identifier that distinguishes source of information. see http://www.met.utah.edu/cgi-bin/database/mnet_no.cgi  for details

The 'current' values are for observations within the past 3 hours. If the observation is not current, the 'current' values are given as missing.

The 24 hr precipitation total is given only for stations that report this variable. 24 hr precipitation totals are available for all stations reporting precipitation at http://www.met.utah.edu/cgi-bin/droman/precip_monitor.cgi?state=UT&rawsflag=290.


daily_summary_hrl.dat.gz: This file has the same format at daily_summary.dat.gz, but it contains an hour's worth of data.  If more than one observation for a station has been inserted in the database in the past hour, only the most current observation is given.