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Storm Events details

noaa:storm-events · Released · Included since usdata 0.8.

Storm Events Database.

At a glance

  • Files: gzip CSV
  • Selection: Whole annual archives; filter rows locally after downloading
  • Required inputs: Both dates (selects the containing years)
  • Open locally: usdata[pandas] · Reader guide
  • Examples: storm events

Usage and limitations

Available since v0.8 as noaa:storm-events. Anonymous NCEI bulk access returns whole annual details tables, compressed with gzip. The separate fatalities and locations tables are not included. The adapter supports schema v1.0; it does not guess how to interpret a newer schema.

Both dates are required and interpreted in UTC for annual file selection. Every calendar year touched is returned in full: May 1–31 selects the complete year; December 31–January 1 selects both years. Asset time bounds label those whole file years, not precise coverage of local event timestamps. Dates before 1950 and a missing requested year are errors, so a multi-year request cannot silently succeed with only some years. Location/bbox, variables, text, and all provider-specific params are rejected. capabilities are false because selecting an annual object does not perform server-side row subsetting.

The directory lists filenames such as StormEvents_details-ftp_v1.0_d2024_c20260728.csv.gz: d identifies the data year and c the creation date. Resolution chooses the greatest valid creation date per year. The complete filename is the stable asset ID; URL, original compressed bytes, size, and checksum are preserved. Exact integer directory sizes are used when present; approximate sizes are left unknown. A lockfile restores its pinned URL without listing current revisions. If an old file disappears or its bytes change, restoration fails; preserve your cache for long-term reproducibility. Use pull(..., force=True) only when intentionally refreshing the revision.

FetchedAsset.open() uses the pandas extra and a local gzip stream. It preserves raw identifier strings and records source provenance in DataFrame attributes; it does not decompress into the cache. EVENT_ID identifies event records, while EPISODE_ID can group several events. CZ_TYPE distinguishes county, forecast-zone, and marine records; CZ_FIPS is not always a county code. Dates/times in rows are local, with CZ_TIMEZONE needed for instant conversion. The executed notebook filters on reported calendar dates and keeps timezone labels visible.

Reported events, impacts, and damage ratings require care when aggregating: physical storms can span several records, historical reporting varies, and missing reports do not establish an absence of hazards. Source field meanings are documented in the NCEI bulk format reference. The archive README describes filenames and revisions; dataset metadata describes historical coverage.

See the service research notes for dated upstream probes.

All NOAA datasets.

Catalog reference.

Catalog reference

  • Availability: since 0.8
  • Domain: Severe weather
  • Catalog date range: 1950-01-01 to open-ended
  • Coverage varies by station, product, and date; the range above does not guarantee observations.
  • Upstream documentation
  • License: US Government Work (public domain)
  • Transport: http
  • Adapter: usdata.providers.noaa.storm_events:StormEvents

All NOAA datasets.