Climate Indices

Climate indices are simple diagnostic quantities that are used to characterize an aspect of a geophysical system such as a circulation pattern. They track droughts, ENSO events, wind patterns, internal modes of climate variability, and extreme events like wildfires and heatwaves. Climate indices play a key role in climate monitoring and prediction. The climate index overview page summarizes the philosophy of climate indices.

To find a specific climate index, jump to the search box below or click your desired index from among the blue sub-category buttons.

To see only the indices with in-depth commentary, select the "Datasets with guidance" button when using the search box.

Dataset Overviews

Climate datasets

Has expert guidance
U.S. Climate Extremes Index (CEI) U.S. Climate Extremes Index (CEI)

  • Years of record

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The U.S. Climate Extremes Index (CEI) was first presented in 1995 as a framework for quantifying observed changes in climate within the contiguous United States. At…

Main variables and Earth System components

Atmosphere Air Temperature Maximum Air Temperature Minimum Air Temperature Precipitation Wind Land Drought