x = np.array(lats) y = np.array(lons) z = np.array(data) xi = np.linspace(lat_min, lat_max, ngrid) yi = np.linspace(lon_min, lon_max, ngrid) zi = griddata(x, y, z, xi, yi) m = Basemap( projection = 'merc', llcrnrlat=lat_min, urcrnrlat=lat_max, llcrnrlon=lon_min, urcrnrlon=lon_max, rsphere=6371200., resolution='l', area_thresh=10000 lat_ts = 20, resolution = 'c' ) # draw parallels delat = 10.0 parallels = np.arange(0., 90, delat) m.drawparallels(parallels, labels=[1,0,0,0], fontsize=10) # draw meridians delon = 10. meridians = np.arange(180.,360.,delon) m.drawmeridians(meridians,labels=[0,0,0,1],fontsize=10) # draw map features m.drawcoastlines(linewidth = 0.50) m.drawcountries(linewidth = 0.50) m.drawstates(linewidth = 0.25) cs = m.contour(xi, yi, zi, 20, linewidths = 1) plt.show()