Downloading NCEP Reanalysis II Fluxes

If the code or instructions below are helpful to you, I'd love to hear it. Always nice to know whether it's worthwhile to put these kinds of instructions online. (Send me an e-mail at the address above.) Even better, if you encounter and fix a relevant data-access issue that isn't in the "troubleshooting" below, let me know so I can add it to the page.

NCEP Reanalysis II fluxes

How to download NCEP2 surface fluxes, in netcdf format.

URL: http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/cdc/data.ncep.reanalysis2.html

1. Click "Search the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis 2 daily average data @ CDC"
2. Pick your variable, e.g. "Latent Heat Net Flux", and click Search
3. Choose "Make plot or subset". For the LS, I used axis 290E - 340E, 48N - 70N
4. Select dates, e.g., 1998/1/1 - 2006/12/31
5. Choose output options, "Create a subset"
6. Click "create a plot or subset", and rename the downloaded file something useful, like "latent_hf_subpolar.nc"

Other similar products include OAFlux, a product from WHOI, and ERA reanalysis (but the time period available is reduced).