File type: Pipe delimited text
Data Source: Derived from U.S. Counties and NWS Public Forecast Zones
Naming Convention: bp ddmmyy.dbx. where ddmmyy = day-month-year
Description: Each record represents a single polygon from the public forecast zone shapefile. Whenever a county is divided into multiple zones, there will exist a record for each county with the same zone.
Note: Starting with the 1 May 2018 file (bp01my18.dbx - now invalid), the CWA field will be a reference to the zone field, and not the county field.
Due to technical issues, the implementation date for zone changes has been moved to April 16, 2026. New files will be available by March 4, 2026, and the files will be locked down on March 24, 2026.
| Description | Valid date | Data Download |
| County-Public Forecast Zones Correlation file | 18 March 2025 Date last upload: 05-FEB-2025 |
bp18mr25.dbx |
| 16 April 2026 Date last upload: 03-MAR-2026 |
bp16ap26.dbx |
Record Format:
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| STATE | Two character state abbreviation |
| ZONE | Three character zone number |
| CWA | Three character CWA ID (of the zone, starting with 01 May 2018 file) |
| NAME | Zone name |
| STATE_ZONE | 5 character state + three character zone number |
| COUNTY | County name |
| FIPS | 5 character state-county FIPS code |
| TIME_ZONE | Time zone of polygon (See comments on county page) |
| FE_AREA | Feature Area (location in STATE - See comments on county page) |
| LAT | Latitude of centroid of the zone |
| LON | Longitude of centroid of the zone |
