Invalid data argument error. Plotting date against MTD precipitation data but date format (dd-MM) is not able to be processed. How do I fix?

% DATA BEING USED IS INCLUDED FOR CONTEXT

clearvars

clear all

clc

% open data

dataMN=readtable('MNdatafix.csv');

dataTN=readtable('TNdatafix.csv');

dataLA=readtable('LAdatafix.csv');

% subplot 1

figure(1);

subplot(3,1,1);

plot(dataLA.DATE,dataLA.MTD_PRCP_NORMAL,'r-');

subplot(3,1,2);

plot(dataTN.DATE,dataTN.MTD_PRCP_NORMAL,'r-');

subplot(3,1,3);

plot(dataMN.DATE,dataMN.MTD_PRCP_NORMAL,'r-');

Answer 1

[Seth Furman]

Look's like you want "d-MMM" as your format instead of "dd-MM". See the following page for reference.

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/datetime.html#buhzxmk-1-Format

t = readtable("TNdatafix.csv",VariableNamingRule="preserve",TextType="string")

t = 320×7 table
       STATION         DATE      DLY-PRCP-25PCTL    DLY-TAVG-NORMAL    DLY-TAVG-STDDEV    MTD-PRCP-NORMAL    YTD-PRCP-NORMAL
    _____________    ________    _______________    _______________    _______________    _______________    _______________

    "USW00013893"    "1-Jan"          0.05               42.7               10.6               0.16               0.16      
    "USW00013893"    "2-Jan"          0.05               42.6               10.6               0.32               0.32      
    "USW00013893"    "3-Jan"          0.05               42.5               10.7               0.48               0.48      
    "USW00013893"    "4-Jan"          0.05               42.4               10.7               0.63               0.63      
    "USW00013893"    "5-Jan"          0.05               42.3               10.7               0.79               0.79      
    "USW00013893"    "6-Jan"          0.05               42.2               10.7               0.93               0.93      
    "USW00013893"    "7-Jan"          0.05               42.1               10.7               1.08               1.08      
    "USW00013893"    "8-Jan"          0.05                 42               10.7               1.22               1.22      
    "USW00013893"    "9-Jan"          0.05                 42               10.7               1.36               1.36      
    "USW00013893"    "10-Jan"         0.05               41.9               10.7                1.5                1.5      
    "USW00013893"    "11-Jan"         0.05               41.8               10.7               1.64               1.64      
    "USW00013893"    "12-Jan"         0.05               41.8               10.7               1.77               1.77      
    "USW00013893"    "13-Jan"         0.05               41.7               10.7                1.9                1.9      
    "USW00013893"    "14-Jan"         0.05               41.7               10.7               2.03               2.03      
    "USW00013893"    "15-Jan"         0.05               41.7               10.6               2.15               2.15      
    "USW00013893"    "16-Jan"         0.04               41.6               10.6               2.27               2.27      

t.DATE = datetime(t.DATE,InputFormat="d-MMM")

t = 320×7 table
       STATION          DATE        DLY-PRCP-25PCTL    DLY-TAVG-NORMAL    DLY-TAVG-STDDEV    MTD-PRCP-NORMAL    YTD-PRCP-NORMAL
    _____________    ___________    _______________    _______________    _______________    _______________    _______________

    "USW00013893"    01-Jan-2022         0.05               42.7               10.6               0.16               0.16      
    "USW00013893"    02-Jan-2022         0.05               42.6               10.6               0.32               0.32      
    "USW00013893"    03-Jan-2022         0.05               42.5               10.7               0.48               0.48      
    "USW00013893"    04-Jan-2022         0.05               42.4               10.7               0.63               0.63      
    "USW00013893"    05-Jan-2022         0.05               42.3               10.7               0.79               0.79      
    "USW00013893"    06-Jan-2022         0.05               42.2               10.7               0.93               0.93      
    "USW00013893"    07-Jan-2022         0.05               42.1               10.7               1.08               1.08      
    "USW00013893"    08-Jan-2022         0.05                 42               10.7               1.22               1.22      
    "USW00013893"    09-Jan-2022         0.05                 42               10.7               1.36               1.36      
    "USW00013893"    10-Jan-2022         0.05               41.9               10.7                1.5                1.5      
    "USW00013893"    11-Jan-2022         0.05               41.8               10.7               1.64               1.64      
    "USW00013893"    12-Jan-2022         0.05               41.8               10.7               1.77               1.77      
    "USW00013893"    13-Jan-2022         0.05               41.7               10.7                1.9                1.9      
    "USW00013893"    14-Jan-2022         0.05               41.7               10.7               2.03               2.03      
    "USW00013893"    15-Jan-2022         0.05               41.7               10.6               2.15               2.15      
    "USW00013893"    16-Jan-2022         0.04               41.6               10.6               2.27               2.27