International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS)
World Data Center for Meteorology, Asheville.

IBTrACS data

Version: v03r04

Check out the changes from v03r03 to v03r04.

Registration

Please register to be notified of: new releases, data set errors and other important information about IBTrACS.

Caveats

The following caveats should be considered prior to using IBTrACS:

  • BUGS - Dataset errors will be noted on the status page.
  • Due to the disparity between storm positions prior to 1970, some tracks during that period may not be properly merged.
  • Due to the disparities in time between sources, some dates and times were changed in one source to match another. However, it is not clear which source had the correct time or date. From the original 16,539 storm tracks, only 255 required time adjustments.

NCDC Data set identification

Access

Format Data File Access
1 file per storm 1 file with all storms Files by basin Files by year
netCDF tar file (14 MB) or
directory listing
netCDF combined All storms (7 MB) Storms by basin Storms by year
CSV Directory listing All storms (6 MB) Storms by basin Storms by year
Shapefiles
(points and lines)
Directory listing All Storms
Points (9 MB)
Lines (11 MB)
Storms by basin Storms by year
See WMO Data for the following formats: HURDAT, ATCF, cXML, WMO, and WMS
  • When accessing numerous files simultaneously, files are tarred and gzipped to simplify downloads.
  • Data files are available in the following ways:
    • By storm - Each storm is in a separate file.
    • All storms - All IBTrACS storms in one file.
    • Storms by basin - All IBTrACS storms for a particular basin (all years).
    • Storms by year - All IBTrACS storms for a particular year (all basins).
  • Description of the storm serial number convention
  • A cross referencing table is available which maps IBTrACS serial numbers to WMO storm names and other storm identification.
  • Format descriptions
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