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Weather File FAQs
- Why is the list of cities in my state different in the new REScheck?
- How was the new weather file created?
- Why did the heating degree-days (HDDs) change in REScheck?
- Can I get my city's HDDs changed back to what they were in the old weather file?
- What if my city is not in the new file?
- Can I make REScheck show counties rather than cities?
Q: Why is the list of cities in my state different than before?
Between MECcheck 3.4 Release 1a and REScheck 3.5 Release 1, we replaced the list of cities (also known as the "weather file"). The new file contains many more locations and has much better coverage of the range of climates in each state. The old file had a total of 3,483 U.S. cities and the new file contains over 22,000.
Q: How was the new weather file created?
The list of cities was taken from the U.S. Geological Survey's Populated Places (PPL) database (which is part of USGS's Geographic Names Information System). The PPL database contains the name, location (latitude/longitude), elevation, and sometimes the population of over 165,000 locations in the U.S. and its possessions. We mapped each of the PPL locations to a best available NOAA weather station as a source of heating degree-days, cooling degree-days, and other climate parameters. The new REScheck weather file contains the subset of the PPL locations for which the USGS has a population estimate (a little more than 22,000 cities).
Q: Why did the heating degree-days change in REScheck?
The new REScheck weather file is based on a more rigorous methodology for mapping each city to a NOAA weather station. Consequently, the climate parameters for your city may now be taken from a different weather station than in the old weather file.
Q: Can I get my city's heating degree-days changed back to what they were in the old weather file?
Maybe. We can change a city's referenced weather station or change specific climate parameters if formally requested to do so by a state official.
Q: What if my city is not in the new file?
The easiest thing to do is just choose another city that is close to your's. If requested by a state official, we can add new cities to the list so they will appear in future versions of the software. We have pre-mapped over 165,000 cities to NOAA weather stations, so it is very likely we already have data for your location.
Q: Can I make REScheck show counties rather than cities?
Some state codes set requirements county by county rather than city by city; REScheck already gives county lists rather than city lists for those states if you've selected that state's code from the menu. For other states, REScheck will always show cities. However, if you really need counties, you can manually replace REScheck's location file with a county version.
The following text provides instructions for changing from the city version of the REScheck software to the county version.
The REScheck software containes two location files:
- CITIES.dat contains a list of cities for each state.
- COUNTIES.dat contains a list of counties for each state.
The useCounties variable contained in the CHECK.PRP file determines which of these location files is used by the software. To modify this variable, open the CHECK.PRP file in a text processor (preferably NOTEPAD) and set useCounties to true or false. By default, the software uses cities:
useCounties=false
You MUST save this file in an ASCII text format. The best text processor to accomplish this is NOTEPAD.
Noteworthy:
If you have saved a data file for a bulding, the location for that building is also saved. If you subsequently change the location file as described above and try to load that data file back into the REScheck software, REScheck will not find the specified building location and will set the location to a default. Therefore, after loading the file into the program, you must go back to the Project screen and reselect your location.