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-- README:                                                   --
-- Storm Events Database, Bulk Download                      --
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This directory contains CSV (Comma-Separated Values) text files
which represent a dump or export of the Storm Events Database.


Update: 5/14/2014
Data from 1950 to 1996 has been added to the database and 
exported to CSV files in this directory.  Data from 1996 to 
present is available in the legacy CSV format but will be
reprocessed to the new data format by the end of May 2014.
The file naming convention has changed and the data are now 
compressed.  However, the contents of the files are similar.

Example file name:
StormEvents_details-ftp_v1.0_d1972_c20140508.csv.gz

The file is compressed with GZIP compression.  This compression
type is widely supported but custom software, such as 
'7-zip' (http://www.7-zip.org/), may be needed to decompress
the files on Windows operating systems.

The 'StormEvents_details-ftp' describes the table.  In the 
future, related tables for location and fatality details
will be added.

The 'v1.0' describes the version of the internal CSV structure
of the data, such as columns and column names.

The 'd1972' describes the year of data.  This file is contains
data for 1972.

The 'c20140508' describes the date that the file was created.
We will update the current yearly file each month.  A change
in this value will indicate that new data is available.
Additionally, updates and corrections may be made to previous
years.  A change of this date value will indicate that data
changes have been made to the file.

The data columns are described in detail in the following
document, available in this directory:
Storm-Data-Bulk-csv-Format.pdf

Questions?  
Please contact NCEI at: ncei.orders@noaa.gov
or refer to the following web page for additional contact 
information: http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact


