The NOAA NCDC API is great (avail in ncdc*() functions in rnoaa), but it has a relatively low rate limit (Default: 1000 per day, can ask for up to 10K per day limit). If you need a lot of data, you may need to take a different approach. One way to tackle this is via their FTP server. The isd() and related functions work with the NOAA FTP server.
Here's an example of how you can get data from ISD.
NOTE: ISD data is let's just say, not fun to parse, so it still needs more work, but is somewhat operational for now.
library("rnoaa")stations <- isd_stations()
head(stations)
#> usaf wban station_name ctry state icao lat lon elev_m begin end
#> 1 7005 99999 CWOS 07005 NA NA NA 20120127 20120127
#> 2 7011 99999 CWOS 07011 NA NA NA 20111025 20121129
#> 3 7018 99999 WXPOD 7018 0 0 7018 20110309 20130730
#> 4 7019 99999 CWOS 07019 NA NA NA 20130625 20130703
#> 5 7025 99999 CWOS 07025 NA NA NA 20120127 20120127
#> 6 7026 99999 WXPOD 7026 AF 0 0 7026 20120713 20141120Probably use ncdc_stations() to find stations, then search for Ids in the FTP station ids data.frame
ncdc_stations(locationid='ZIP:44720') # let's target row 5, id='GHCND:USW00014895'
#> $meta
#> $meta$totalCount
#> [1] 8
#>
#> $meta$pageCount
#> [1] 25
#>
#> $meta$offset
#> [1] 1
#>
#>
#> $data
#> id elevation name
#> 1 COOP:330058 368.2 AKRON CANTON REGIONAL AIRPORT, OH US
#> 2 COOP:331254 345.0 CANTON 5 N, OH US
#> 3 GHCND:USC00331254 345.0 CANTON 5 N, OH US
#> 4 GHCND:USC00335750 335.3 NEW BERLIN, OH US
#> 5 GHCND:USW00014895 368.2 AKRON CANTON REGIONAL AIRPORT, OH US
#> 6 NEXRAD:KCLE 232.6 CLEVELAND, OH US
#> 7 NEXRAD:KPBZ 361.2 PITTSBURGH, PA US
#> 8 WBAN:14895 368.2 AKRON CANTON REGIONAL AIRPORT, OH US
#> elevationUnit datacoverage longitude mindate latitude maxdate
#> 1 METERS 0.9861 -81.43333 1948-07-01 40.91667 2014-07-01
#> 2 METERS 1.0000 -81.40000 1893-07-01 40.86667 1948-09-01
#> 3 METERS 1.0000 -81.40000 1948-05-01 40.86667 1948-09-30
#> 4 METERS 1.0000 -81.45000 1893-01-01 40.90000 1913-08-31
#> 5 METERS 1.0000 -81.43333 1948-07-01 40.91667 2014-12-30
#> 6 METERS 0.9500 -81.86000 1995-01-05 41.41306 2015-01-01
#> 7 METERS 0.9500 -80.21833 1995-01-19 40.53167 2015-01-01
#> 8 METERS 1.0000 -81.43333 1948-07-01 40.91667 2014-12-31
#>
#> attr(,"class")
#> [1] "ncdc_stations"stations[grep("14895", stations$wban),]
#> usaf wban station_name ctry state icao lat
#> 19837 725210 14895 AKRON-CANTON REGIONAL AIRPORT US OH KCAK 40.917
#> 28487 999999 14895 AKRON AKRON-CANTON AIRPORT US OH KCAK 40.917
#> lon elev_m begin end
#> 19837 -81.433 368.2 19730101 20141209
#> 28487 -81.433 376.7 19480701 19721231(res <- isd(usaf="725210", wban="14895", year=1986))
#> <ISD Data>
#> Size: 10358 X 79
#>
#> total_chars usaf_station wban_station date time date_flag latitude
#> 1 0233 725210 14895 19860101 0000 C +40917
#> 2 0083 725210 14895 19860101 0100 D +40917
#> 3 0083 725210 14895 19860101 0200 D +40917
#> 4 0170 725210 14895 19860101 0300 D +40917
#> 5 0098 725210 14895 19860101 0400 D +40917
#> 6 0087 725210 14895 19860101 0437 4 +40917
#> 7 0120 725210 14895 19860101 0500 D +40917
#> 8 0109 725210 14895 19860101 0520 4 +40917
#> 9 0342 725210 14895 19860101 0600 C +40917
#> 10 0265 725210 14895 19860101 0700 C +40917
#> .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
#> Variables not shown: longitude (chr), type_code (chr), elevation (chr),
#> call_letter (chr), quality (chr), wind_direction (chr),
#> wind_direction_quality (chr), wind_code (chr), wind_speed (chr),
#> wind_speed_quality (chr), ceiling_height (chr),
#> ceiling_height_quality (chr), ceiling_height_determination (chr),
#> ceiling_height_cavok (chr), visibility_distance (chr),
#> visibility_distance_quality (chr), visibility_code (chr),
#> visibility_code_quality (chr), temperature (chr), temperature_quality
#> (chr), temperature_dewpoint (chr), temperature_dewpoint_quality
#> (chr), air_pressure (chr), air_pressure_quality (chr), REM.remarks
#> (chr), REM.identifier (chr), REM.length_quantity (chr), REM.comment
#> (chr), AG1.precipitation (chr), AG1.discrepancy (chr),
#> AG1.est_water_depth (chr), GF1.sky_condition (chr), GF1.coverage
#> (chr), GF1.opaque_coverage (chr), GF1.coverage_quality (chr),
#> GF1.lowest_cover (chr), GF1.lowest_cover_quality (chr),
#> GF1.low_cloud_genus (chr), GF1.low_cloud_genus_quality (chr),
#> GF1.lowest_cloud_base_height (chr),
#> GF1.lowest_cloud_base_height_quality (chr), GF1.mid_cloud_genus
#> (chr), GF1.mid_cloud_genus_quality (chr), GF1.high_cloud_genus (chr),
#> GF1.high_cloud_genus_quality (chr), KA1.extreme_temp (chr),
#> KA1.period_quantity (chr), KA1.max_min (chr), KA1.temp (chr),
#> KA1.temp_quality (chr), EQD.observation_identifier (chr),
#> EQD.observation_text (chr), EQD.reason_code (chr), EQD.parameter
#> (chr), MD1.atmospheric_change (chr), MD1.tendency (chr),
#> MD1.tendency_quality (chr), MD1.three_hr (chr), MD1.three_hr_quality
#> (chr), MD1.twentyfour_hr (chr), MD1.twentyfour_hr_quality (chr),
#> MW1.first_weather_reported (chr), MW1.condition (chr),
#> MW1.condition_quality (chr), EQD.observation_identifier.1 (chr),
#> EQD.observation_text.1 (chr), EQD.reason_code.1 (chr),
#> EQD.parameter.1 (chr), EQD.observation_identifier.2 (chr),
#> EQD.observation_text.2 (chr), EQD.reason_code.2 (chr),
#> EQD.parameter.2 (chr)