Official State of Rhode Island website

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Weather Stations

Where is official climate data collected in Rhode Island? The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), specifically the National Weather Service (NWS) and National Ocean Service (NOS), maintain research-grade weather stations at airports, governmental institutions, and universities. In addition to real-time observations, many weather stations across Rhode Island have climate normals after more than 30 years of continuous recordkeeping.

Rhode Island Weather Stations

Request Climate Data and Information
Active Land Stations
Station Name Location Elev.       Est.       Observation Frequency Parameters
Block Island (COOP) New Shoreham 130 ft. 2015 Daily Temperature, Precipitation
Block Island State Airport New Shoreham 105 ft. 1948 Real-Time Temperature, Dewpoint, Wind, Pressure, Precipitation
Coventry (COOP) Coventry 260 ft. 2011 Daily Precipitation
Kingston (COOP) South Kingstown 117 ft. 1893 Daily Temperature, Precipitation
Kingston 1 NW (COOP) South Kingstown 115 ft. 2001 Real-Time Temperature, Precipitation
Kingston 1 W (COOP) South Kingstown 106 ft. 2001 Real-Time Temperature, Precipitation
Newport State Airport Middletown 148 ft. 1996 Real-Time Temperature, Dewpoint, Wind, Pressure, Precipitation
North Central State Airport Smithfield 441 ft. 1992 Real-Time Temperature, Dewpoint, Wind, Pressure, Precipitation
Quonset State Airport North Kingstown 20 ft. 1947 Real-Time Temperature, Dewpoint, Wind, Pressure, Precipitation
R.I. T.F. Green Int'l Airport Warwick 51 ft. 1932 Real-Time Temperature, Dewpoint, Wind, Pressure, Precipitation
Westerly State Airport Westerly 65 ft. 1999 Real-Time Temperature, Dewpoint, Wind, Pressure, Precipitation
Woonsocket (COOP) Woonsocket 360 ft. 1948 Daily Precipitation
Active Marine Stations
Station Name Location Elev.           Est.              Observation Frequency Parameters
Conimicut Light Upper Narragansett Bay 8.09 ft. 1999 Real-Time Tides, Wind, Air Temperature, Water Temperature, Pressure
Newport Coasters Harbor Island 7.03 ft. 1930 Real-Time Tides, Wind, Air Temperature, Water Temperature, Pressure, Sea Level Trends
Port of Davisville Quonset Point 9.55 ft. 2022 Real-Time Wind, Air Temperature, Humidity, Pressure
Potter Cove Prudence Island 39.37 ft. 1999 Real-Time Wind, Air Temperature, Pressure
Providence Providence River 8.96 ft. 1938 Real-Time Tides, Wind, Air Temperature, Water Temperature, Pressure, Sea Level Trends
Providence Visibility Providence River 12.69 ft. 2016 Real-Time Wind, Air Temperature, Humidity, Pressure, Visibility
Sandy Point Visibility Prudence Island 5.45 ft. 2015 Real-Time Air Temperature, Humidity, Visibility

Types of Weather Stations

Automated

Weather station at NBNERR Potter Cove
Potter Cove (Prudence Island). Credit: NBNERR.

Weather stations operated at airports by NOAA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are either Automated Surface Observing Stations (ASOS) or Automated Weather Observing Stations (AWOS) and record real-time observations. Marine stations are also automated and collect real-time weather data and water data (conductivity, tides, sea level trends).

Manual

Block Island COOP Station
Block Island COOP. Credit: RI Water Resources Board.

The NWS Cooperative Observer Program (COOP) is a voluntary service where observers collect daily temperature and precipitation measurements. The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow (CoCoRaHS) network is also a volunteer organization and measures precipitation only. Rhode Island has over 115 active CoCoRaHS observers.