FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

Users new to the Phoenix web site often have questions regarding use of the site, how to access certain products, etc. Some of the more common, or frequently asked questions, and their answers, can be found in the following paragraphs.

1. How do I navigate through this site?   The home page was designed with efficiency and simplicity in mind, in order to provide quick and easy access to the current forecast for Phoenix, including current weather and any watches/warnings and advisories that are in effect. To access this information, just click on the displayed map in the location for which you desire a forecast.  In addition, the web site contains a wealth of information and is broken up into a number of major sections; each of which is contained in the blue navigation bar on the left hand side of the screen. With few exceptions, every page on the site contains the same basic navigation links, thus you may reach EACH section of the site from EVERY page on the site. To return back to the home page, simply click the "Home" button at the top of the page. The "Forecasts" section of the navigation bar contains links to most of the important pages on the site, including "Weather Center", as well as the Aviation, Fire Weather, and Tropical pages. The main Climate page can be found in the section directly below, by clicking the link for "Local" under the "Climate" header. Links to some of the most popular NWS products, such as the Phoenix Zone Forecast, can be found in the "Quick Weather" section of the blue bar. If you have a question about the site, you may contact the webmaster by clicking the "Webmaster" link at the bottom of the navigation bar; you will then be able to send an e-mail to him.

2. How do I find the forecast for Phoenix? The quickest way to access the Phoenix forecast is to click directly on the dot next to "Phoenix" on the displayed WWA forecast map - this will call up the complete day 1 through 7 day forecast for the Greater Phoenix Area. Alternately, you could click the "Phoenix Zones" link on the blue navigation bar, located at the top of the "Quick Weather" section.

3. How do I obtain old, or achived, climate and weather data for Phoenix? The Phoenix web site only maintains current versions of weather and climate data, and forecast products, and only limited data is stored at the NWS office in Phoenix. If you cannot find what you are looking for on the "Weather Center" or "Climate - Local" pages, you will need to visit the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) web site. The link (URL) to the NCDC site can be found within our Climate page; click the tab entitled 'Climate Resources' to bring up a page containing the web site URL. Note that there may be a small fee to obtain certain types or amounts of data. Another excellent source for old climate data is the "Western Regional Climate Center". Call "775-674-7010" or visit "www.wrcc.dri.edu/" to visit the WRCC. It is important to note that the NCDC web site is the only OFFICIAL site for Weather Service weather and climate data, and for insurance or other official purposes, you MUST obtain your data from NCDC.

4. I have comments/questions about the site. Is it possible to forward these concerns to someone? Yes...at the bottom of the home page, as well as all other site pages, there is a highlighted "Webmaster" link you may click upon in order to send your comment/questions to the webmaster. The same link can also be found in the "Contact Us" section of the blue navigation bar on the left side of each page. You should receive a response A.S.A.P., depending upon his work /leave schedule. User feedback is important to us and we use customer feedback in order to improve the site and make it more user-friendly!

5. How can I obtain climate data (current or historical) for Phoenix? The Climate page contains a wealth of climate information for Phoenix, including high and low temperatures, rainfall totals, wind and normals data. Access the page by clicking the "Climate - local" link on the blue navigation bar at the left side of the homepage. Most of the data commonly requested can be found by clicking the "Preliminary Climatology Data - CF6>" radio button. To view the current months data, simply click the "GO" button and the table will display in another window. To view historical data, going back about 5 years, click the "archived data" radio button under "timeframe". Highlight the desired month and click the "GO" button. Other useful climate products include the Daily Climate Report (CLI), the Monthly Weather Summary (CLM) and the Regional Summary (RTP). They operate in the same fashion as the CF6 product; the current product is displayed when the "most recent" radio button is toggled, and older data is available by clicking the "archived data" button. If you want older data that is not available from any of the products on this page you will have to visit the National Climatic Data Center web site. See question #3 above.

6. How can I find out what the normal (average) high and low temperatures are for Phoenix? If you want to know what the average (normal) high or low temperature is for Phoenix, for any day of the year, simply go to our climate page. The link - "Climate - local" - is on the blue navigation bar at the left side of the homepage. Once inside the climate page, click the "Local Data/Records" tab, then click the "Climate Information Including Records and Normals" link. At the top right corner of the page, under the "Normals Table" header, there are two drop-down menus. Click the arrows and select both the station (Phoenix), and the desired month. Click the "GO" button to display the data table. If you want to know record information (such as record high or low temperatures), follow the same procedure below the "Records Table" header to the left of the Normals table.

7. Are there topics that are inappropriate to bring to the Webmaster's attention? Yes...the "Contact Us" link is there for the public to forward their concerns to the webmaster, however there are certain subjects that probably should not be be sent to him. The primary purpose of this link is to allow people to comment on the website itself, both positively and negatively. Problems with the site, including dead links, should certainly be brought to the webmaster's attention. If you like the site, or certain aspects of it, feel free to let us know. If something displeases you, certainly bring it to our attention so that we may make changes to improve the site or its content. If you cannot locate something on the site, you may write and ask for help in obtaining the desired information; we do ask that you make at least a small attempt to find the information first, by taking time to go through the main site pages. Requests for climate data are OK, as long as the amount of information requested is limited - after all, OUR resources and time are limited. If you need information that pertains to locations in northern Arizona, please contact the Flagstaff WFO webmaster; contact the Tucson WFO webmaster for concerns in southeast Arizona (south and east of Tucson). You can find links to their websites at the top of our "Links" page, in the NWS website drop-down list. Finally, PLEASE, do NOT use this link to ask employment-related questions, this is NOT the forum for such requests and they will NOT be handled here! Click the link entitled "Career Opportunities" at the bottom of the home page to learn how to obtain a job with the NWS.

8. I noticed that a lot of information and links, mostly with the "dot-com" extension, are not included on your site. Why is this?  Due to concerns by the private Meteorological community, the inclusion of sites ending in "dot-com" was prohibited on NWS web sites. The federal government CANNOT endorse any private company, meteorological or otherwise...or give the appearance of such endorsement. Removal of the "dot-com" links was done to ensure that no such endorsement or appearance of such was evident on this site.

9. How can I obtain a job with the National Weather Service? If you are interested in getting a job in the NWS, either as a Meteorologist or as some other position (e.g. Hydrologist), you should click the link entitled "Career Opportunities", located at the bottom of the home page. You might also visit the following web site: "www.opm.gov". This excellent web site will give you plenty of information on how to obtain a job with the Federal Government, including positions in the National Weather Service or NOAA.