About Ranking of Daily Climate Data

Back to Product

The Ranking of Daily Climate Data product ranks daily observations for a selected weather variable, calendar date, and station across the years within a chosen time period.

Important Items to Consider

There are different ranking options available.

Standard Ranking

The first method in MRCC ranking products is “Standard Ranking” where ties are assigned the same rank and then subsequent ranks are skipped so that the next rank is unaffected by the ties (or lack of ties) ahead of it.

Dense Ranking

The second method is “Dense Ranking” where ties are assigned the same rank but no ranks are skipped which can be thought of as ranking the distinct values rather than the occurrence of each value.

Ordinal Ranking

The third method is “Ordinal Ranking” where ties are ignored and each value gets a unique rank value which is useful for calculations of medians and other percentiles (quartiles, sextiles, …).

Product Inputs

Date

Chosen date to be ranked.

Sort Order

can be sorted in “descending” order from highest to lowest or “ascending” order from lowest to highest ranking.

Time Period

The chose period of interest for the ranking.

  • Period of record
  • Past number of years (e.g. Past 30 years)
  • Custom year range

Variables

Chosen weather variable to see ranked.

  • Minimum Temperature (F)
  • Maximum Temperature (F)
  • Mean Temperature (F)
  • Total Precipitation (inches)
  • Total Snowfall (inches)
  • Total Snow depth (inches)

Example: Ranking Minimum Temperature

For example, to see how the minimum temperature on November 1, 2026 compares to minimum temperatures on every November 1 throughout the station’s recorded history:

  • Date = November 1
  • Timer period = Period of Record
  • Variable= Minimum temperature

To see the lowest temperatures on November 1, choose “Ascending”, which will rank the lowest observed November 1 minimum temperature first.

Example inputs for ranking November 1 minimum temperatures in ascending order over the station’s period of record.
Example inputs for ranking November 1 minimum temperatures in ascending order over the station’s period of record.

Product Results

The output will provide a listing of every low temperature on November 12 going back through the entire period of record.

Example output listing ranked daily minimum temperatures over the station’s period of record.
Example output listing ranked daily minimum temperatures over the station’s period of record.

Downloading Data

Data can be quickly downloaded in .csv format using the gold Download button on the top right.