WMO Climate Guide: Global Monthly Observations

Learn how to use the WMO Climate Explorer to monitor monthly climate anomalies, view global meteorological observations, and export raw data.

Open the WMO Climate Explorer

Maintained by Climate Explorer · Last reviewed 14 July 2026.

WMO Climate map view showing Buzău, Romania selected — WMO Climate map centered on Romania showing the selected station Buzău

Quick start

Open the explorer and view the global stations map.
Select a country to filter station choices and center the view.
Choose a specific station to inspect its observations.
Transition to the Dashboard tab to view monthly trend charts and export CSV data.

1. Introduction

The WMO Climate Explorer provides interactive access to near real-time and historical monthly climatological reports (CLIMAT) from the global World Meteorological Organization (WMO) network. Unlike static climate normals, this explorer is updated monthly as new bulletins are quality-controlled and published by the Deutsche Wetterdienst (DWD).

2. Global Navigation (Sidebar)

The sidebar controls the filters and targets for the active explorer session:

Select Country: Filter the displayed stations list by country. When a country is selected, the map will dynamically center and zoom to its boundary box.
Select Station: Choose a specific station in the selected country to inspect its coordinates and access its detailed meteorological charts.

Example: Explore Buzău Station

In the Select Country dropdown, choose Romania.
In the Select Station dropdown, choose Buzau (WMO ID: 15350).
The map will center directly on Buzău, and the app will load the historical observations.

3. Main Navigation Tabs

The application is structured into three primary tabs:

Map View

Displays all weather stations matching your filters. - Colored Dots: Show station locations. Click any dot to highlight the station, automatically updating the sidebar inputs and propagating the parameters to the URL. - Basemap Selector: Choose between Light mode (OpenFreeMap Positron), Classic (OpenFreeMap Bright), or Satellite imagery. - Labels Toggle: Hide or show map place names.

Station Info

Shows metadata for the selected station, including WMO ID, geographical coordinates, elevation, and available parameters.

Dashboard

Presents seasonal and historical timeseries charts for all compiled meteorological variables: - Mean Temperature: Average monthly temperature (°C). - Precipitation: Total accumulated monthly precipitation (mm). - Sunshine Duration: Total hours of bright sunshine (hours). - Atmospheric Pressure: Mean monthly sea-level pressure (hPa).

Exporting Data

Click the Download CSV button on the Dashboard header to export the complete historical table of monthly observations for the selected station.

4. Parameter Definitions

The dashboard maps and exports the following WMO monthly parameters:

Variable	Definition	Unit
Mean Temperature	Average temperature calculated over the month	°C
Max Temperature	Absolute maximum temperature recorded in the month	°C
Min Temperature	Absolute minimum temperature recorded in the month	°C
Mean daily max	Average of all daily maximum temperatures in the month	°C
Mean daily min	Average of all daily minimum temperatures in the month	°C
Precipitation	Total accumulated rainfall and snowfall	mm
Precipitation Days	Number of days with precipitation ≥ 1.0 mm	days
Sea Level Pressure	Average monthly atmospheric pressure at sea level	hPa
Vapour Pressure	Average atmospheric moisture content	hPa
Sunshine Duration	Total hours of bright sunshine	hours

5. Data Sourcing and Quality Control

Data is sourced from the DWD CDC Global CLIMAT Observations archive. Bulletins are submitted monthly by National Meteorological and Hydrological Services. Quality control checks are applied by DWD before publication. Reporting completeness and record length vary dynamically by region and station.