Monthly Climatic Data for the World (MCDW) is a monthly publication of the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) division of the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States. According to the website, each monthly issue "contains monthly mean temperature, pressure, precipitation, vapor pressure, and sunshine for approximately 2,000 surface data collection stations worldwide and monthly mean upper air temperatures, dew point depressions, and wind velocities for approximately 500 observing sites. This is the final quality controlled copy and generally has a 4 - 6 month time lag."