---
license: cc-by-4.0
task_categories:
  - other
  - time-series-forecasting
tags:
  - weather
  - meteorology
  - wrf
  - severe-weather
  - netcdf
  - cf-conventions
  - climate
  - atmospheric-science
  - simulation
  - high-resolution
size_categories:
  - 1K<n<10K
pretty_name: WRF 250m Severe Weather Simulations (NetCDF4)
---

# WRF 250m Severe Weather Simulations — CF-Compliant NetCDF4

18 high-resolution (250m) WRF-ARW severe weather simulations in standard CF-compliant NetCDF4 format. Ready for immediate use with xarray, MetPy, Panoply, QGIS, GrADS, NCL, CDO, and any CF-aware tool.

This is the NetCDF4 version of [wrf-250m-severe-weather-overlays](https://huggingface.co/datasets/deepguess/wrf-250m-severe-weather-overlays). Same data, standard format.

## Quick Start

```python
import xarray as xr

ds = xr.open_dataset("carr_fire.nc")
print(ds)

# Plot composite reflectivity at timestep 200
ds["refc"].isel(time=200).plot(cmap="turbo", vmin=-10, vmax=75)

# Time series at a point
ds["t2m"].sel(y=400, x=400).plot()
```

## Events

| File | Event | Category | Date | Location | Timesteps |
|------|-------|----------|------|----------|-----------|
| `buffalo_blizzard.nc` | Buffalo Blizzard | winter | 2022-12-23 | Buffalo, NY | 14 |
| `ca_atmos_river.nc` | CA Atmospheric River | flooding | 2021-12-30 | Northern California | 421 |
| `ca_pineapple_express.nc` | CA Pineapple Express 2023 | flooding | 2023-01-04 | California | 421 |
| `camp_fire.nc` | Camp Fire | wildfire | 2018-11-08 | Paradise, CA | 418 |
| `carr_fire.nc` | Carr Fire | wildfire | 2018-07-23 | Redding, CA | 421 |
| `death_valley.nc` | Death Valley Record Heat | heat | 2020-08-16 | Death Valley, CA | 357 |
| `denver_hail.nc` | Denver Hailstorm | hail | 2024-05-31 | Denver, CO | 421 |
| `enderlin_ef5.nc` | Enderlin EF5 Tornado | tornado | 2025-06-21 | Enderlin, ND | 359 |
| `la_fires.nc` | LA Fires | wildfire | 2020-09-06 | Los Angeles, CA | 421 |
| `la_fires_peak.nc` | LA Fires Peak 2025 | wildfire | 2025-01-07 | Los Angeles, CA | 421 |
| `mayfield.nc` | Mayfield EF4 Tornado | tornado | 2021-12-11 | Mayfield, KY | 22 |
| `michael.nc` | Hurricane Michael | hurricane | 2018-10-10 | Panama City, FL | 34 |
| `nashville.nc` | Nashville EF3 Tornado | tornado | 2020-03-03 | Nashville, TN | 42 |
| `pineapple_express.nc` | Pineapple Express | flooding | 2024-02-04 | Southern California | 418 |
| `pnw_windstorm.nc` | PNW Windstorm | wind | 2020-09-08 | Pacific Northwest | 360 |
| `seattle_heat_dome.nc` | Seattle Heat Dome | heat | 2021-06-28 | Seattle, WA | 21 |
| `sfbay.nc` | SF Bay Area Fires | wildfire | 2020-09-06 | San Francisco Bay Area, CA | 421 |
| `tx_freeze.nc` | Texas Freeze | winter | 2021-02-16 | Texas | 22 |

**Total: 5,014 timesteps across 18 events** at 1-minute resolution, 800x800 grid (250m).

## Variables

| Variable | CF standard_name | Units | Description |
|----------|-----------------|-------|-------------|
| `t2m` | `air_temperature` | degC | 2m Temperature |
| `u10` | `eastward_wind` | m s⁻¹ | 10m U-wind |
| `v10` | `northward_wind` | m s⁻¹ | 10m V-wind |
| `wind_speed_10m` | `wind_speed` | m s⁻¹ | 10m Wind Speed |
| `wind_direction_10m` | `wind_from_direction` | degree | 10m Wind Direction |
| `surface_pressure` | `surface_air_pressure` | hPa | Surface Pressure |
| `pblh` | `atmosphere_boundary_layer_thickness` | m | PBL Height |
| `hfx` | `surface_upward_sensible_heat_flux` | W m⁻² | Sensible Heat Flux |
| `lh` | `surface_upward_latent_heat_flux` | W m⁻² | Latent Heat Flux |
| `rain_rate` | `lwe_precipitation_rate` | mm hr⁻¹ | Rain Rate |
| `refc` | — | dBZ | Composite Reflectivity |
| `wspd10max` | — | m s⁻¹ | Max 10m Wind Gust |
| `w_up_max` | — | m s⁻¹ | Max Updraft Speed |
| `w_dn_max` | — | m s⁻¹ | Max Downdraft Speed |
| `updraft_helicity` | — | m² s⁻² | Max Updraft Helicity 2-5km |
| `hail_max` | — | mm | Max Hail Diameter |

All variables include `grid_mapping = "lambert_conformal_conic"` and `coordinates = "lat lon"` for proper geospatial referencing.

## Format Details

- **Format**: NetCDF4 / HDF5 with CF-1.8 conventions
- **Dimensions**: `time` (unlimited) × `y` (800) × `x` (800)
- **Coordinates**: 2D `lat(y,x)` and `lon(y,x)` arrays (Lambert Conformal grid)
- **Projection**: Lambert Conformal Conic — per-event parameters in `lambert_conformal_conic` variable and `wrf_config.json`
- **Compression**: zlib level 4, chunked (1, 800, 800) per variable — one timestep per chunk
- **Data type**: float32

## WRF Configuration

Each event was run with WRF-ARW v4.7.1 at 250m resolution (d03 domain). Full WRF namelist parameters are in `wrf_config.json`, keyed by event name. Key settings:

- **Grid**: 800 × 800, dx=dy=250m
- **Vertical**: 81 levels, hybrid coordinates
- **Microphysics**: Thompson (MP=8)
- **Radiation**: RRTMG (RA=4)
- **Adaptive timestep**: 1-2s

## Tools That Work Out of the Box

- **Python**: xarray, MetPy, netCDF4, scipy
- **Desktop**: Panoply, ncview, QGIS
- **Command line**: CDO, NCO, ncdump
- **Languages**: NCL, GrADS, MATLAB, R (ncdf4), Julia (NCDatasets.jl)

## Citation

```bibtex
@dataset{wrf_250m_severe_2025,
  title={WRF 250m Severe Weather Simulations},
  author={Fahrenheit Research},
  year={2025},
  url={https://huggingface.co/datasets/deepguess/wrf-250m-severe-weather-netcdf4},
  license={CC-BY-4.0}
}
```

## License

CC-BY-4.0