A subset of WPC's product suite is now provided in a GIS (Geographic Information System) Shapefile format. Products are available for download via the NCEP anonymous FTP server at https://ftp.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/shapefiles.

If clicking on the above link does not work, then access can be gained by:

FTPing to ftp.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov
At the "User" prompt, type anonymous
For the password, use your e-mail address
Change directories to "shapefiles" ( cd shapefiles )

At this point, you will see four subdirectories:

fop -- the Significant River Flood Outlook.
heatindex -- WPC's Day 3-7 Heat Index Forecasts.
qpf -- WPC Excessive Rainfall Forecasts and QPFs. Both 6- and 24-hour QPFs for Days 1, 2, and 3 are provided, as well as Day 1-2 and Day 1-3 accumulated precipitation. Also available are the 48-hour Day 4-5 and 5-day total QPFs.
ww -- WPC Winter Weather Products.

The .tar files in each subdirectory contain the required three files (.dbf, .shp, .shx) to import and display using most GIS software packages. Additionally, a fourth file (.prj) is included and provides map projection information in order to align correctly with other geodata files.

Below are details regarding the contents of the abovementioned subdirectories, as well as file naming conventions and any updates we make to file names or data contained within the shapefiles.

Significant River Flood Outlook (fop subdirectory)

The Significant River Flood Outlook is created once per day and is typically available by 20-21Z. The file naming convention is fop_yyyymmdd.tar where:

yyyymmdd is the year (yyyy), month (mm), and day (dd) the product was created

In addition, the file FLOODOUTLOOK_latest.tar will contain the most recent product.

Note that files of zero size indicate that no significant river flooding is expected for the upcoming 5 day period.

Updates:

February 9, 2009 -- The latest outlook is now available as the static file name FLOODOUTLOOK_latest.tar.

Download Significant River Flood Outlook shapefiles

Heat Index Forecasts for Days 3-7 (heatindex subdirectory)

For the Heat Index Forecasts, there are subdirectories corresponding to the issuance date. Within these subdirectories are files containing the Daily Mean, Minimum, and Maximum Heat Index forecasts for Days 3-7 over the contiguous U.S. The file naming convention is prodhi_yyyymmddfhhh.tar, where:

prod is mean for Daily Mean, min for Daily Minimum, or max for Daily Maximum Heat Index forecasts.
yyyymmdd is the year (yyyy), month (mm), and day (dd) the product was created
fhhh is the forecast hour. For example, "f072" corresponds to Day 3, "f096" to Day 4, etc...

Example: The file meanhi_20070606f120.tar is the Day 5 Daily Mean Heat Index forecast issued on June 6, 2007 and valid June 11, 2007.

The forecast data contained within these shapefiles are points evenly spaced (at approximately a 20 kilometer resolution) over the contiguous U.S. and do not necessarily correspond to a particular city or town.

Note that files are created daily, but this product is operational only from May 1 through September 30.

Download Heat Index Forecast shapefiles

Quantitative Precipitation and Excessive Rainfall Forecasts (qpf subdirectory)

Within the qpf subdirectory, there are several directories corresponding to the time period of the precipitation forecast, including:

day1 -- The 6- and 24-hour Quantitative Precipitation Forecasts (QPF) comprising Day 1
day2 -- The 6- and 24-hour QPFs comprising Day 2
day3 -- The 6- and 24-hour QPFs comprising Day 3
day12 -- The 48-hour total QPF for the Day 1 through Day 2 period
day13 -- The 72-hour total QPF for the Day 1 through Day 3 period
day45 -- The 48-hour total QPF for the Day 4 through Day 5 period
5day -- The 120-hour total QPF for the Day 1 through Day 5 period

In the day1, day2, and day3 subdirectories, the file naming convention is ppp_yyyymmddcc.tar, where:

ppp is the product identifier (91e, 92e, etc...)
yyyymmdd is the year (yyyy), month (mm), and day (dd) the product was created
cc is the forecast cycle (00Z, 06Z, 12Z, 18Z)

The most recent 6- and 24-hour forecasts are copied into files that include a "_latest" in the file name. The 6-hour forecast files also include the valid period in the filename.

Examples:
In the day1 subdirectory, the file 93e_2006071100.tar is the second period 6-hour QPF from the July 11th, 2006 00Z cycle (the 6-hour period covering 06-12Z on July 11th).

The file 94q_2006071100.tar is the Day 1 24-hour QPF from the July 11th, 2006 00Z cycle (00Z July 11th through 00Z July 12th).

The file QPF6hr_f12-f18_latest.tar contains the latest 6-hour QPF for the 12-18 hour forecast period.

In the day12 and day13 subdirectories, the file naming convention is ppppp_yyyymmddcc.tar, where:

ppppp is the product identifier (day12 or day13)
yyyymmdd is the year (yyyy), month (mm), and day (dd) the product was created
cc is the forecast cycle

The file QPF48hr_Day1-2_latest.tar contains the most recent Day 1-2 QPF.
The file QPF72hr_Day1-3_latest.tar contains the most recent Day 1-3 QPF.

In the day45 subdirectory, the file naming convention is p48i_yyyymmddcc.tar, where:

yyyymmdd is the year (yyyy), month (mm), and day (dd) the product was created
cc is the forecast cycle (00Z or 12Z)

The file QPF48hr_Day4-5_latest.tar contains the most recent Day 4-5 QPF.

In the 5day subdirectory, the file naming convention is 95e_yyyymmddcc.tar, where:

yyyymmdd is the year (yyyy), month (mm), and day (dd) the product was created
cc is the forecast cycle (00Z or 12Z)

The file QPF120hr_Day1-5_latest.tar contains the most recent Day 1-5 QPF.

Finally, there is a directory named excessive that contains the Days 1-3 Excessive Rainfall forecasts. The file naming convention is ppp_yyyymmddcc.tar, where:

ppp is the product identifier (94e, 98e, or 99e)
yyyymmdd is the year (yyyy), month (mm), and day (dd) the product was created
cc is the forecast cycle

The most recent forecasts are copied into files that include a "_latest" in the file name.

Note that files of zero size indicate that no organized areas of rainfall exceeding flash flood guidance are expected for the given forecast period.

Updates:

September 23, 2008 -- The labeling of the attributes for the QPF products was modified to provide more information about the contours. The primary change was to include a valid date and time for each forecast.
February 9, 2009 -- The latest forecast products are now available as static file names. For instance, in the day1 subdirectory, the file QPF6hr_f12-f18_latest.tar is the most recently issued 6-hour QPF for the 12-18 hour forecast period. Please see above for details of file naming conventions.

View additional information about WPC's QPF products.

Download QPF or Excessive Rainfall Forecast shapefiles

Winter Weather Forecasts (ww subdirectory)

Within the ww subdirectory, there are directories corresponding to the forecast day (Days 1-3). The file naming conventions are:

dayx_psnow_gt_nn_yyyymmddcc.tar for snow products.
dayx_picez_gt_nn_yyyymmddcc.tar for freezing rain products.

dayx is the forecast day -- day1, day2, or day3
nn represents the accumulation threshold. For snow, the value will be 04, 08, or 12. For instance, a file in which nn is 04 contains the forecast probability of snowfall exceeding 4 inches.

.25

yyyymmdd is the year (yyyy), month (mm), and day (dd) the product was created
cc is the forecast cycle (00Z or 12Z)

The most recent forecasts are copied into files that include a "_latest" in the file name.

Files of zero size indicate that the probability of receiving at least 4, 8, or 12 inches of snow or .25 inch of freezing rain is less than 10% over the CONUS for the given forecast period.

Please note that forecasts are created only between September 15 and May 15.

Updates:

October 6, 2008 -- The labeling of the attributes for the winter weather products was modified to provide more information about the contours. The probability products are more clearly labeled and include a valid date and time for each forecast.
February 9, 2009 -- The latest forecasts are now available as static file names. Files containing "_latest" in their file name represent the most recently issued winter weather product.

View information about WPC's winter weather products.

Download Winter Weather Forecast shapefiles