Re: [mcidas-x] [External] Re: How can I add new stations to the surface station database?

  • To: Mike Zuranski <zuranski.wx@xxxxxxxxx>
  • Subject: Re: [mcidas-x] [External] Re: How can I add new stations to the surface station database?
  • From: "Sebenste, Gilbert" <sebensteg@xxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 19 May 2026 02:14:38 +0000
I saw that, but I already have an entry in both for the new radar site in 
Louisiana. Can I mix and match with having a radar site and METAR sites in 
there, without breaking everything?

Gilbert Sebenste
Meteorology Support Analyst
College of DuPage

On May 18, 2026, at 8:37 PM, Mike Zuranski <zuranski.wx@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:



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Hi Gilbert,

From the McIDAS-X docs:


STNPLOT uses the station database files STNDB.CORE, STNDB.SITE and STNDB.USER. 
The .CORE file is supplied with McIDAS-X and should not be modified. The .USER 
file overrides the .SITE file, which overrides the .CORE file. This order of 
precedence allows you or your site to change existing stations and/or add new 
stations in your .USER or .SITE file.

To create a .USER or .SITE file, first run a command similar to the following 
to create the file in the first writable MCPATH directory.

STNLIST KMSN FORM=USER DEV=T STNDB.USER A

The file contains one long line that defines the data for station KMSN. An 
equal sign (=) denotes the value of each of the 10 fields (IDN, ID, LATLON, 
ULATLON, ELE, UELE, ST, CO, NAME, and DATATYPE). Replace the values in the KMSN 
entry with those for your station and add lines as needed for additional 
stations. Entries do not have to include all ten fields. The required fields 
are LATLON and at least one of the following: ID, IDN, USERID. Other fields 
like CO, ST and NAME are useful but not required. Note that you must follow the 
one-entry-per-line format for all stations in your .USER and .SITE files. Line 
breaks are not permitted.

https://www.ssec.wisc.edu/mcidas/doc/users_guide/current/stnplot.html

That is just from one cursory search.  The long and short of it is you do not 
edit the .CORE file, you create a .SITE and/or a .USER file.

Hope this helps,
-Mike

On Mon, May 18, 2026 at 8:29 PM Sebenste, Gilbert 
<sebensteg@xxxxxxx<mailto:sebensteg@xxxxxxx>> wrote:
Good evening everyone,

STNDB.CORE is a binary file, and can’t be updated with new stations. Is there 
another file I can use to add to the new stations that have come online since 
early 2024?

Gilbert Sebenste
Meteorology Support Analyst

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