Format of Tropical Cyclone Vital Statistics Records (“TCVITALS”)

April 27, 2015

This is a DRAFT

The TCVitals is a database of vitals information describing a tropical cyclones, post-tropical cyclones, and potential formation of a tropical cyclones. The database gives storms' location, intensity, movement, type, structure, name and other information. The database takes the form of a seven-bit ASCII text file, where each line contains information about one storm at one time. The temporal resolution is six hours, but the database theoretically supports resolutions as high as a minute.

The below table describes what each byte of a TCVitals line must contain. Areas highlighted in blue must contain ASCII spaces in all TCVitals databases. The NCEP tropical cyclone quality control program SYNDAT_QCTROPCY reuses some of those blank space areas for other purposes, and those purposes are also documented here.

Updates from the August 16, 2007 version include:

  1. Added the Storm Type parameter at characters 151-152
  2. Added South Atlantic (Q) basin.
  3. Removed unused U, O, and T basins with notes to use S, P or W instead (as is currently done).
  4. Added a note that INVEST is the standard name for investigative/genesis test storms.
  5. Clarified explanation of this document's purpose.
  6. Optional storm priority information

Sample TCVitals report:


JTWC 93P INVEST    20131021 0600 074S 1708E 205 077 1000 1006 0315 15 083 -999 -999 -999 -999 S -999 -999 -999 -999 -9 -99N -999W -999 -999 -999 -999 DB  3
NHC  90L INVEST    20131021 0600 270N 0560W 330 046 1012 1016 0278 13 037 -999 -999 -999 -999 M -999 -999 -999 -999 -9 -99N -999W -999 -999 -999 -999 DB  2
JTWC 28W LEKIMA    20131021 0600 122N 1605E 340 032 0989 1005 0333 23 083 0148 0167 0121 0130 M -999 -999 -999 -999 -9 -99N -999W -999 -999 -999 -999 TS  2
JTWC 26W FRANCISCO 20131021 0600 204N 1359E 330 032 0952 1000 0380 48 022 0222 0213 0195 0204 D -999 -999 -999 -999 -9 -99N -999W -999 -999 -999 -999 TY  1
NHC  17E RAYMOND   20131021 0600 160N 1022W 330 021 0967 1007 0278 49 028 0111 0093 0074 0111 D 0056 0056 0037 0056 72 167N 1031W 0028 0028 0019 0028 HU  1
JTWC 93P INVEST    20131021 1200 085S 1703E 205 067 1000 1006 0315 15 083 -999 -999 -999 -999 S -999 -999 -999 -999 -9 -99N -999W -999 -999 -999 -999 DB 99
NHC  90L INVEST    20131021 1200 277N 0554W 040 036 1010 1016 0334 15 111 -999 -999 -999 -999 M -999 -999 -999 -999 -9 -99N -999W -999 -999 -999 -999 DB  3
JTWC 28W LEKIMA    20131021 1200 131N 1600E 340 042 0982 1005 0370 28 046 0167 0185 0139 0148 M -999 -999 -999 -999 -9 -99N -999W -999 -999 -999 -999 TS  2
JTWC 26W FRANCISCO 20131021 1200 210N 1356E 330 032 0956 1000 0380 46 022 0222 0213 0195 0204 D -999 -999 -999 -999 -9 -99N -999W -999 -999 -999 -999 TY  1
NHC  17E RAYMOND   20131021 1200 162N 1023W 335 015 0954 1007 0278 54 028 0111 0093 0074 0111 D 0056 0056 0037 0056 72 160N 1040W 0028 0028 0019 0028 HU  1
NHC  13L THIRTEEN  20131021 1200 277N 0554W 040 036 1010 1016 0334 15 111 -999 -999 -999 -999 M -999 -999 -999 -999 -9 -99N -999W -999 -999 -999 -999 TD  2
---------0---------0---------0---------0---------0---------0---------0---------0---------0---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1-----
         1         2         3         4         5         6         7         8         9         0         1         2         3         4         5
         0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0
This is a DRAFT
Byte(s) Meaning Explanation
1-4 Organization ID

Left-justified organization identifier, maximum of four characters.

NHC
U.S. National Hurricane Center (NOAA/NWS/NCEP/NHC)
JTWC
U.S. Navy Joint Typhoon Warning Center
5 blank spaceSingle space (ASCII character 32).
6-7 Storm ID in this basin
01-49
Formed or dissipating storms.
50-79
NHC/JTWC internal use only.
80-89
Testing only: fake storms for testing dataflow.
90-99
Genesis/investigative case.
8 Basin identifier

The following values are presently used and understood by the NCEP suite. Attempting to use any other basin identifiers may cause the NCEP models to fail.

L
North Atlantic
E
North East Pacific
C
North Central Pacific
W
North West Pacific
B
Bay of Bengal (North Indian Ocean)
A
Arabian Sea (North Indian Ocean)
Q
South Atlantic
P
South Pacific
S
South Indian Ocean

The following basins are not supported and have never been used in the NCEP TCVitals:

O
South China Sea (use W instead)
T
East China Sea (use W instead)
U
“Australian” (use S or P instead)
9 blank spaceSingle space (ASCII character 32).
10-18Storm name

Names must be left-justified, begin with a capital letter, and may contain only capital English letters and hyphens (“-”). If the name is less than nine characters long, it must be left-justified: bytes to the right must be blank space (ASCII character 32). There are several special names recognized:

INVEST
investigative/genesis case: a storm that might form
TEST
not a real storm; just for testing dataflow
NAMELESS
no name yet assigned
19 blank space

Single space (ASCII character 32).

Reused by SYNDAT_QCTROPCY:

: (colon)
first occurrence of a record for this storm
blank
second or more occurrence of a record for this storm
20-23 Year

Year at which the data is valid. For example, a Southern Hemisphere storm 23S at December 25, 2013 18:00 UTC would have 2013 here

24-25 Month 01-12 for January-December
26-27Day

Day of month, zero-padded: 01-31. Cannot exceed highest possible day in the month

28 blank spaceSingle space (ASCII character 32).
29-30 Hour

Hour of day, zero-padded. Example: 06 for 06 UTC.

31-32 Minute

Minute of hour, zero-padded. Example: 00.

33 blank spaceSingle space (ASCII character 32).
34-36 latitude (decidegrees)

Storm latitude in tenths of a degree, always positive

37 North/South flag
N
North
S
South
38 blank spaceSingle space (ASCII character 32).
39-42 longitude (decidegrees)

Storm longitude in tenths of a degree, always positive

43 East/West flag
E
East
W
West
44 blank space

Single space (ASCII character 32).

Reused by SYNDAT_QCTROPCY for storm motion direction data source:

C
obtained via climatology
P
obtained via persistence
45-47 Storm motion direction (degrees)

Degrees from north 0-360 (0=North, 90=East, 180=South, 270=West)

48 blank space

Single space (ASCII character 32).

Reused by SYNDAT_QCTROPCY for storm motion speed data source:

C
obtained via climatology
P
obtained via persistence
49-51 Storm motion speed (dm/s)

Storm motion speed in specified direction. Always positive in tenths of a meter per second.

52 blank space

Single space (ASCII character 32).

Reused by SYNDAT_QCTROPCY for central pressure data source:

C
obtained via climatology
P
obtained via persistence
Z
central pressure is set to reported environmental pressure value and environmental pressure is set to reported central pressure value (they are switched)
53-56 Storm central pressure (mbar)

Storm central pressure in mbar (hPa).

57 blank space

Single space (ASCII character 32).

Reused by SYNDAT_QCTROPCY for environmental pressure data source:

C
obtained via climatology
P
obtained via persistence
Z
environmental pressure is set to reported central pressure value and central pressure is set to reported environmental pressure value (they are switched)
58-61 Storm environmental pressure (mbar)

Storm environmental pressure in mbar (hPa).

62 blank space

Single space (ASCII character 32).

Reused by SYNDAT_QCTROPCY for data source of the radius of the outermost closed isobar:

C
obtained via climatology
P
obtained via persistence
63-66 Radius of outermost closed isobar (km)

Estimated radius of outermost closed isobar (ie.: storm circulation) in kilometers.

67 blank space

Single space (ASCII character 32).

Reused by SYNDAT_QCTROPCY for the maximum wind data source:

C
obtained via climatology
P
obtained via persistence
68-69 Maximum wind speed (m/s)

Estimated storm-wide maximum one minute sustained ten meter altitude wind speed in meters per second

70 blank spaceSingle space (ASCII character 32).
71-73 Radius of maximum wind (km)

Estimated radius at which the maximum wind occurs in kilometers from the storm center

74 blank spaceSingle space (ASCII character 32).
75-78 Radius of 34kt winds in NE quadrant (km)

34 Knot Wind Radii

Estimated outermost radius in kilometers at which 34 knot winds occur in the storm in each of four quadrants. The quadrants are defined as:

NWNE
SWSE

Missing values should be filled in as -999.

79 blank space (ASCII character 32)
80-83 Radius of 34kt winds in SE quadrant (km)
84 blank space (ASCII character 32)
85-88 Radius of 34kt winds in SW quadrant (km)
89 blank space (ASCII character 32)
90-93 Radius of 34kt winds in NW quadrant (km)
94 blank space

Single space (ASCII character 32).

Reused by SYNDAT_QCTROPCY for the data source of the storm circulation depth:

C
obtained via climatology
P
obtained via persistence
95 Storm depth

Estimated depth of storm circulation.

S
shallow, estimated top of circulation is 700 mb
M
medium, estimated top of circulation is 400 mb
D
deep, estimated top of circulation is 200 mb
X
no estimate, missing
TCVitals records after this line are not available in the 1997-2013 JTWC database, but were reported by NHC.
96 blank spaceSingle space (ASCII character 32).
97-100 Radius of 50kt winds in NE quadrant (km)

50 Knot Wind Radii

Estimated outermost radius in kilometers at which 50 knot winds occur in the storm in each of four quadrants. The quadrants are defined as:

NWNE
SWSE

Missing values should be filled in as -999.

101 blank space (ASCII character 32)
102-105 Radius of 50kt winds in SE quadrant (km)
106 blank space (ASCII character 32)
107-110 Radius of 50kt winds in SW quadrant (km)
111 blank space (ASCII character 32)
112-115 Radius of 50kt winds in NW quadrant (km)
116 blank spaceSingle space (ASCII character 32).
117-118 Maximum forecast time (hrs) Maximum forecast hour, or -9 if missing
119 blank spaceSingle space (ASCII character 32).
120-122 Forecast latitude

Estimated latitude at maximum forecast time in tenths of a degree, always positive. Specify -99 if missing.

123 North/South flag
N
North
S
South
124 blank spaceSingle space (ASCII character 32).
125-128 Forecast longitude

Estimated longitude at maximum forecast time in tenths of a degree, always positive. Specify -999 if missing.

129 East/West flag
E
East
W
West
130 blank spaceSingle space (ASCII character 32).
The 64 knot wind quadrant radii began being written into NHC reports on March 29, 2004.
131-134 Radius of 64kt winds in NE quadrant (km)

64 Knot Wind Radii

Estimated outermost radius in kilometers at which 64 knot winds occur in the storm in each of four quadrants. The quadrants are defined as:

NWNE
SWSE

Missing values should be filled in as -999.

135 blank space (ASCII character 32)
136-139 Radius of 64kt winds in SE quadrant (km)
140 blank space (ASCII character 32)
141-144 Radius of 64kt winds in SW quadrant (km)
145 blank space (ASCII character 32)
146-149 Radius of 64kt winds in NW quadrant (km)
The storm type parameter is a proposed addition to assist in GFS storm relocation.
150 blank spaceSingle space (ASCII character 32).
151-152 Storm type
TD
tropical depression
TS
tropical storm
TY
typhoon
DB
disturbance
ST
super typhoon
TC
tropical cyclone
HU
hurricane
SD
subtropical depression
SS
subtropical storm
EX
extratropical cyclone
IN
inland
DS
dissipating
LO
low
WV
tropical wave
ET
extrapolated
XX
unknown or missing
The storm priority is a proposed addition to help with regional hurricane model initialization.
153 Single space (ASCII character 32).
154-155 Priority

Optional storm priority: from 1 to 9, or 99 for missing values or non-requested storms. Lower numbers are more important storms.

 1
Storm #1: most important storm
 2
Storm #2: second most important storm.
 3
Storm #3
 4
Storm #4
 5
Storm #5
 6
Storm #6
 7
Storm #7
 8
Storm #8
 9
Storm #9: least important storm
99
Non-requested or missing
This is a DRAFT