This archive contains answers to questions sent to Unidata support through mid-2025. Note that the archive is no longer being updated. We provide the archive for reference; many of the answers presented here remain technically correct, even if somewhat outdated. For the most up-to-date information on the use of NSF Unidata software and data services, please consult the Software Documentation first.
Greetings! That math can definitely be tricky, which is why cftime is so handy: import cftime dt = cftime.num2date(738004.5, 'days since 1-1-1 00:00:0.0') print(dt) gives "2021-08-01 12:00:00". `num2date` also supports being given an entire array of times that you get from the file, and you can avoid hard-coding the units with: import cftime from netCDF4 import Dataset nc = Dataset('http://nomads.ncep.noaa.gov:80/dods/gfs_0p25/gfs20210802/gfs_0p25_00z') time_var = nc.variables['time'] time_vals = cftime.num2date(time_var[:], time_var.units) Hope this helps! Ryan > One other note on this subject netcdf time. > > I guess I got to learn to use cftime to convert my netcdf to units that make > sense. Looking at the GRADS server I finally understand what the unites mean > and also what my numbers I see are for. > > My start time unit is 738004.5, which was my start unit for Aug 1, 2021. > > I did the math below. I got close enough, so I'm missing a leap day her or > there, but getting close. > > Don't need to read below, but do you have an example of using cftime to > convert number of days since the beginning of time > to our datetime object? > Ticket Details =================== Ticket ID: MBM-874792 Department: Support Python Priority: Low Status: Closed =================== NOTE: All email exchanges with Unidata User Support are recorded in the Unidata inquiry tracking system and then made publicly available through the web. If you do not want to have your interactions made available in this way, you must let us know in each email you send to us.