Pricing and Other Information for Climatic Data Online (CDO) Datasets (updated June 20, 2006):

This system is designed so that you receive an email after placing your order, with links to your files--including data, a station list, and an inventory. Depending on data volume for your order and system traffic, you may receive your email from a few minutes after ordering to several hours after ordering. If you don't receive the email within 24 hours, please contact NCDC at ncdc.orders@noaa.gov or 828-271-4800.

The current file size limit (individual file) for download is 100 mb. Files larger than 10 mb will be compressed prior to download, so you will receive the file in compressed mode with a Z extension. The email you receive will provide information to uncompress the file.

There are charges for the data, unless you are an internet domain of .gov, .edu, .k12, .us, .mil, and a few other specific domains. However, charges are substantially reduced as compared to traditional off-line delivery.

Data are priced by station-year, or state-year, depending on how you select the data. Also, daily data now have pricing by station-month for small orders. In the table below, for example, 10 years of surface daily data for 5 stations would equal 50 station-years, and would cost $70. Data selected by county or by country will be priced based on the number of stations available for that county or country.

Data selected by U.S. state or climatic division are priced by state-year, with one or more climatic divisions in the same state counting as one unit, or one state. For example, 5 years of surface daily data for North Carolina would equal 5 state-years, and would cost $60.

Note that these prices provide nearly a 70% discount vs placing your order off-line. If you have any questions, please contact ncdc.orders@noaa.gov, or call 828-271-4800.

Number of station-months     Cost
1                            $3 (Daily only)
2                            $6 (Daily only)
3                            $9 (Daily only)
4-12                         $10 (Daily only)
Number of station-years       
1-2                          $10
3-10                         $20
11-100                       $70
101-1000                     $200
1001-5000                    $330
>5000                        $.07 (7 cents) per station-year
Entire Dataset (all stations)
for limited time period *    $100
* Limit for all stations:
Daily - 1 month
Hourly Precip - 3 months
15-Minute Precip - 6 months

Number of state-years        Cost
1-10                         $60
11-100                       $200
101-1000                     $600
>1000 not permitted

Number of station-years      Cost
1-2                          $10
3-10                         $20
11-100                       $40
101-1000                     $100
1001-5000                    $170
>5000                        $.04 (4 cents) per station-year
Entire Dataset (all stations)
for limited time period *    $100
* Limit for all stations:
U.S. Monthly - 12 months
Global Monthly - no limit

Number of state-years        Cost
1-10                         $60
11-100                       $100
101-1000                     $300
>1000 not permitted

Global Surface Hourly Data:

Number of station-months     Cost
1-6                          $3 per station-month
7-12                         $20
Number of station-years       
1-2                          $20
3-10                         $40
11-100                       $140