diff --git a/neural_lam/datastore/base.py b/neural_lam/datastore/base.py
index e2d2140..b9de2da 100644
--- a/neural_lam/datastore/base.py
+++ b/neural_lam/datastore/base.py
@@ -193,11 +193,9 @@ def get_dataarray(
         """
         Return the processed data (as a single `xr.DataArray`) for the given
         category of data and test/train/val-split that covers all the data (in
-        space and time) of a given category (state/forcing/static). A
-        datastore must be able to return for the "state" category, but
-        "forcing" and "static" are optional (in which case the method should
-        return `None`). For the "static" category the `split` is allowed to be
-        `None` because the static data is the same for all splits.
+        space and time) of a given category (state/forcing/static). For the
+        "static" category the `split` is allowed to be `None` because the static
+        data is the same for all splits.
 
         The returned dataarray is expected to at minimum have dimensions of
         `(grid_index, {category}_feature)` so that any spatial dimensions have
diff --git a/neural_lam/datastore/mdp.py b/neural_lam/datastore/mdp.py
index f68bb4d..8f48891 100644
--- a/neural_lam/datastore/mdp.py
+++ b/neural_lam/datastore/mdp.py
@@ -218,9 +218,8 @@ def get_dataarray(self, category: str, split: str) -> xr.DataArray:
         """
         Return the processed data (as a single `xr.DataArray`) for the given
         category of data and test/train/val-split that covers all the data (in
-        space and time) of a given category (state/forcin g/static). "state" is
-        the only required category, for other categories, the method will
-        return `None` if the category is not found in the datastore.
+        space and time) of a given category (state/forcing/static). The method
+        will return `None` if the category is not found in the datastore.
 
         The returned dataarray will at minimum have dimensions of `(grid_index,
         {category}_feature)` so that any spatial dimensions have been stacked
diff --git a/tests/dummy_datastore.py b/tests/dummy_datastore.py
index a958b8f..1bdbc8c 100644
--- a/tests/dummy_datastore.py
+++ b/tests/dummy_datastore.py
@@ -300,11 +300,9 @@ def get_dataarray(
         """
         Return the processed data (as a single `xr.DataArray`) for the given
         category of data and test/train/val-split that covers all the data (in
-        space and time) of a given category (state/forcing/static). A
-        datastore must be able to return for the "state" category, but
-        "forcing" and "static" are optional (in which case the method should
-        return `None`). For the "static" category the `split` is allowed to be
-        `None` because the static data is the same for all splits.
+        space and time) of a given category (state/forcing/static). For the
+        "static" category the `split` is allowed to be `None` because the static
+        data is the same for all splits.
 
         The returned dataarray is expected to at minimum have dimensions of
         `(grid_index, {category}_feature)` so that any spatial dimensions have