SkyWise Current & Forecast Documentation
The SkyWise Current and Forecast API (Megafeed) represents an on-demand weather observation and forecast service via an authenticated web service (HTTP). The service provides comprehensive point-specific current and forecast conditions throughout the globe. Meteorological conditions are provided via HTTP using a properly formed URI comprising the location of interest and other optional query parameters. Each HTTP request provides convenient XML or JSON tagged format output which affords easy automated parsing using but not limited to Python, Perl and PHP.
Key Technical Features
- Convenient XML or JSON format output
- Units for numerical values may be specified in either SI (e.g. Celsius) or English (e.g. Fahrenheit) units or both.
Key Meteorological Features
- Over 14,000+ surface weather observations around the globe
- Weather observations in the United States are usually updated at least hourly while most global observations are updated at least every three hours.
- Unique quality control to ensure the most reliable and representative surface weather observations.
- 10-day forecasts (Hourly and 24 hour increments) are updated every 12 hours
- Forecast weather conditions derived from a blend of numerical weather prediction models at the National Center of Environmental Prediction and internal at Weather Decision Technologies.
To retrieve the current and forecast weather conditions, a URI must be properly formed to access the web service and retrieve the current and forecast conditions.
It is important to note that while any global location can be requested, the density of observation stations outside of the United States is much lower and results may not be as accurate in more remote global locations.
Authentication
Requests must include Headers for authentication. The provided application ID will be entered as the value for the app_id header, and the application key will be entered as the value for the app_key header. Up to five application keys may be in use at any time. This allows old application keys to be disabled without any downtime.
Accepted Parameters
Required
- Parameters require geographic information from any one of these three categories.
- U.S. Locations
- Zip
- City & State
- Global Cities
- City & Country
- Any Global Locations
- LAT & Long
Optional
- FORMAT - By default, all requests are returned in XML format.
- FORMAT=json will return requests in JSON format.
- Units - By default, all values are returned in SI units (e.g. Celsius).
- Units=uswill return units in English units such as inches of mercury (Hg) and Fahrenheit.
- Units=allwill return values in both English and SI units. Hence, the returned XML will be larger.
URI Examples
- https://skywisefeeds.wdtinc.com/feeds/api/mega.php?ZIP=76354
- https://skywisefeeds.wdtinc.com/feeds/api/mega.php?LAT=34.1&LON=-98.57
- https://skywisefeeds.wdtinc.com/feeds/api/mega.php?CITY=norman&STATE=ok
- https://skywisefeeds.wdtinc.com/feeds/api/mega.php?CITY=tokyo&COUNTRY=jp
- https://skywisefeeds.wdtinc.com/feeds/api/mega.php?ZIP=76354&UNITS=US
Error Messages
If a location cannot be found then the following response is returned:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> - Unable to geocode the location provided
If the lat/lon coordinates are out of bounds (e.g. lat > 90 or lon < -90; lon> 180 or lon < -180) a response will be returned. However, the returned location will default to the maximum or minimum allowable latitude and/or longitude coordinate. For example, the following mega feed request
https://skywisefeeds.wdtinc.com/feeds/api/mega.php?LAT=-91&LON=181
returns the following location:
lat="-90" lon="180" timezone="UTC" city="" region="" country="" zipcode="" offset="0" local_offset_hours="12"
XML Description
The following sections describe each parameter contained in each section of the returned XML from the mega feed request.
Location Data
Tag | Definition | Value Range | Units |
---|---|---|---|
<units> |
Weather parameter units | all, si,us | NA |
<language> |
Language of returned XML content | Various | NA |
<lat> |
Latitude of location | -90 to +90 | Degrees |
<lon> |
Longitude of location | +180 to -180 | Degrees |
<timezone> |
Time zone of observation | UTC | NA |
<city> |
City location | NA | NA |
<region> |
State, province or numeric code | Various ISO 3166-1 alpha 2 | NA |
<country> |
Country location | NA | NA |
<zipcode> |
Zip Code location | ||
<offset> |
Time offset | ||
<local_offset_hours> |
Local time offset | +12 to -12 | Hours |
Current Weather Conditions
Tag | Definition | Value Range | Units |
---|---|---|---|
<stn> |
Weather observation station identifier | Variable | NA |
<stn_lat> |
Latitude coordinate of weather station | -90 to +90 | Degrees |
<stn_lon> |
Longitude coordinate of weather station | -180 to + 180 | Degrees |
<ob_time> |
Date and time weather observation was recorded | UTC | |
<day_of_week_local> |
Day of the week Sunday to Saturday | NA | |
<temp_C> |
Observed air temperature | -95 to +60 | Celsius |
<dewp_C> |
Observed dewpoint temperature | -25 to +35 | Celsius |
<rh_pct> |
Relative humidity | 0 to 100 | Percent (%) |
<apparent_temp units="C"> |
Apparent (“feels like”) temperature. This is an approximation of how the air temperature might feel to a human observer. Above 26.7C, this is the heat index which combines the effect of temperature and humidity. Below 10C, this is the wind chill factor which combines the effect of the temperature and wind chill. At temperatures from 10C - 26.7C where neither of these is true,it is just the air temperature. |
-100 to +140 | Degrees |
<temp_F> |
Observed air temperature | -140 to +140 | Fahrenheit |
<dewp_F> |
Observed dewpoint temperature | -10 to +90 | Fahrenheit |
<rh_pct> |
Relative humidity | 0 to 100 | Percent (%) |
<apparent_temp units="F"> |
Apparent (“feels like”) temperature. This is an approximation of how the air temperature might feel to a human observer. Above 80F, this is the heat index which combines the effect of temperature and humidity. Below 50F, this is the wind chill factor which combines the effect of the temperature and wind chill. At temperatures from 50F - 80F where neither of these is true,it is just the air temperature. |
-148 to +284 | Fahrenheit |
<wnd_dir> |
Observed wind direction represented by the direction from which the wind is blowing. | N, NNE, NE, E, ESE, SE, SSE, S,SSW, SW, WSW, W, WNW, NW, NNW | Direction (e.g. North [N], Southwest [SW]) |
<wnd_spd_kph> |
Observed wind speed | 0 to 403 | Kilometers Per Hour (kph) |
<wnd_spd_mph> |
Observed wind speed | 0 to 250 | Miles Per Hour (mph) |
<press_mb> |
Observed atmospheric pressure | 850 to 1100 | Millibars (mb) |
<press_in> |
Observed atmospheric pressure | 27 to 31 | Inches of Hg (in) |
<wx> |
Observed weather | Weather Icons | NA |
<wx_code> |
Observed weather code | Weather Code | NA |
<cld_cover> |
Observed cloud cover conditions |
Clear Mostly clear Partly cloudy Mostly cloudy Cloudy |
NA |
<wx_icon_url> |
URL location for weather icon graphic | NA | NA |
<day_night> |
Diurnal indicator of weather observation | day or night | NA |
<visibility_m> |
Optical visibility | NA | Meters (m) |
<visibility_ft> |
Optical visibility | NA | Feet (ft) |
<moon_phase> |
Moon phase |
New Moon (not visible) Waxing Crescent Moon (Right 1-49% visible ) Quarter Moon (Right 50% visible) Waxing Gibbous Moon (Right 51-99% visible) Full Moon(Fully Visible) Waning Gibbous Moon (Left 51-99% Visible) Last Quarter Moon (Left 50% Visible) Waning Crescent Moon (Left 1-49% Visible) |
NA |
<sunrise_utc> |
Sunrise date and time | NA | UTC |
<sunset_utc> |
Sunset date and time | NA | UTC |
Daily Summaries
Tag | Definition | Value Range | Units |
---|---|---|---|
<summary_date> |
Forecast date | e.g. 11/01/2012 | NA |
<day_of_week> |
Day of the week for daily forecast weather conditions | Sunday to Saturday | |
<max_temp_C> |
Forecast maximum air temperature. | -95 to +60 | Celsius |
<min_temp_C> |
Forecast minimum air temperature. | -95 to +60 | Celsius |
<max_temp_F> |
Forecast maximum air temperature. | -140 to +140 | Fahrenheit |
<min_temp_F> |
Forecast minimum air temperature. | -140 to +140 | Fahrenheit |
<wnd_dir> |
Forecast wind direction represented by the direction from which the wind is blowing. | N, NNE, NE, E, ESE, SE, SSE, S, SSW, SW, WSW, W, WNW, NW, NNW | Direction (e.g. North [N], Southwest [SW]) |
<wnd_spd_kph> |
Forecast wind speed | 0 to 402 | Kilometers Per Hour (kph) |
<wnd_spd_mph> |
Forecast wind speed | 0 to 250 | Miles Per Hour (mph) |
<min_wnd_spd_kph> |
Forecast minimum wind speed | 0 to 402 | Kilometers Per Hour (kph) |
<min_wnd_spd_mph> |
Forecast minimum wind speed | 0 to 250 | Miles Per Hour (mph) |
<max_wnd_spd_kph> |
Forecast maximum wind speed | 0 to 402 | Kilometers Per Hour (kph) |
<max_wnd_spd_mph> |
Forecast maximum wind speed | 0 to 250 | Miles Per Hour (mph) |
<wnd_gust_kph> |
Forecast wind gust speed | 0 to 402 | Kilometers Per Hour (kph) |
<wnd_gust_mph> |
Forecast wind gust speed | 0 to 250 | Miles Per Hour (mph) |
<pop> |
Forecast probability of precipitation | 0 to 100 | Percent (%) |
<wx> |
Forecast weather | Weather Icons | NA |
<wx_code> |
Forecast weather code | Weather Code | NA |
<wx_icon_text> |
Forecast weather icon type description | Weather Icon Text | NA |
<wx_icon_url> |
URL location for forecast weather icon graphic | NA | NA |
<text_description> |
Short forecast weather description | NA | NA |
<sunrise_utc> |
Sunrise time | NA | UTC |
<sunset_utc> |
Sunset time | NA | UTC |
<qpf_24hr_mm> |
Quantitative Precipitation Forecast (liquid) expected in a 24 hour period | 0 to 2540 | Millimeters |
<qpf_24hr_in> |
Quantitative Precipitation Forecast (liquid) expected in a 24 hour period | 0 to 100 | Inches |
<cdd1> |
Cooling Degree Days 1 | 0 to 100 | Celsius or Fahrenheit |
<cdd2> |
Cooling Degree Days 2 | 0 to 100 | Celsius or Fahrenheit |
<hdd1> |
Heating Degree Days 1 | 0 to 100 | Celsius or Fahrenheit |
<hdd2> |
Heating Degree Days 2 | 0 to 100 | Celsius or Fahrenheit |
<gdd> |
Growing Degree Days | 0 to 100 | Celsius or Fahrenheit |
<gdu> |
Growing Degree Units | 0 to 1000 | Celsius or Fahrenheit |
<solunar_sunrise_utc> |
Sunrise date and time | NA | UTC |
<solunar_sunset_utc> |
Sunset date and time | NA | UTC |
<solunar_sun_state> |
Indicates when the sun is always up or always down in a 24 hour period | NA | |
<solunar_moonrise_utc> |
Moonrise date and time | NA | UTC |
<solunar_moonset_utc> |
Moonset date and time | NA | UTC |
<solunar_moon_state> |
Indicates when the moon is always up or always down in a 24 hour period | NA |
Hourly Forecast
Tag | Definition | Value Range | Units |
---|---|---|---|
<day_of_week> |
Day of the week for daily forecast weather conditions | Sunday to Saturday | |
<time_utc> |
Forecast date and time | UTC | |
<temp_C> |
Forecast air temperature. | -95 to +60 | Celsius |
<dewp_C> |
Forecast dewpoint temperature. | -25 to +35 | Celsius |
<temp_F> |
Forecast air temperature. | -140 to +140 | Fahrenheit |
<dewp_F> |
Forecast dewpoint temperature. | -60 to +130 | Fahrenheit |
<apparent_temp_c> |
Apparent (“feels like”) temperature. This is an approximation of how the air temperature might feel to a human observer. Above 26.7C, this is the heat index which combines the effect of temperature and humidity. Below 10C, this is the wind chill factor which combines the effect of the temperature and wind chill. At temperatures from 10C - 26.7C where neither of these is true,it is just the air temperature. |
-100 to +140 | Degrees |
<apparent_temp_F> |
Apparent (“feels like”) temperature. This is an approximation of how the air temperature might feel to a human observer. Above 80F, this is the heat index which combines the effect of temperature and humidity. Below 50F, this is the wind chill factor which combines the effect of the temperature and wind chill. At temperatures from 50F - 80F where neither of these is true,it is just the air temperature. |
-148 to +284 | Fahrenheit |
<rh_pct> |
Relative humidity | 0 to 100 | Percent (%) |
<wx> |
Forecast weather | Weather Icons | NA |
<wx_code> |
Forecast weather code | Weather Code | NA |
<wx_icon_url> |
URL location for forecast weather icon graphic | NA | NA |
<day_night> |
Diurnal indicator of weather observation | day or night | NA |
<pop> |
Forecast probability of precipitation | 0 to 100 | Percent (%) |
<sky_cov_pct> |
Sky cover percentage | 0 to 100 | Percent (%) |
<wnd_dir_degs> |
Forecast wind direction represented by the direction from which the wind is blowing. | 0 to 355 (5 degree increments; e.g. 0 = north, 180 = south, 270 = west) | |
<wnd_dir> |
Observed wind direction represented by the direction from which the wind is blowing. | N, NNE, NE, E, ESE, SE, SSE, S,SSW, SW, WSW, W, WNW, NW, NNW | Direction (e.g. North [N], Southwest [SW]) |
<wnd_spd_kph> |
Forecast wind speed | 0 to 402 | Kilometers Per Hour (kph) |
<wnd_spd_mph> |
Forecast wind speed | 0 to 250 | Miles Per Hour (mph) |
<qpf_01hr_mm> |
Quantitative Precipitation Forecast (liquid) expected in a 1 hr period | 0 to 2540 | Millimeters |
<qpf_01hr_in> |
Quantitative Precipitation Forecast (liquid) expected in a 1 hour period | 0 to 100 | Inches |
<wnd_spd_80m_kph> |
80m Hub Height Wind Speed Forecast | 0 to 241 | Kilometers Per Hour (kph) |
<wnd_spd_80m_ms> |
80m Hub Height Wind Speed Forecast | 0 to 70 | Meters Per Second |
<wnd_spd_80m_mph> |
80m Hub Height Wind Speed Forecast | 0 to 150 | Miles Per Hour (mph) |
<wnd_spd_100m_kph> |
100m Hub Height Wind Speed Forecast | 0 to 100 | Kilometers Per Hour (kph) |
<wnd_spd_100m_ms> |
100m Hub Height Wind Speed Forecast | 0 to 100 | Meters Per Second |
<wnd_spd_100m_mph> |
100m Hub Height Wind Speed Forecast | 0 to 1000 | Miles Per Hour (mph) |
XML Response
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> - <locations> <units>all</units> <language>en</language> - <location lat="35.2373" lon="-97.4998" timezone="CDT" city="Norman" region="OK" country="United States of America" zipcode="73072" offset="0" local_offset_hours="-5"> - <sfc_ob> <stn>KOUN</stn> <stn_lat>35.25</stn_lat> <stn_lon>-97.467</stn_lon> <ob_time>2016-02-10 21:15:00</ob_time> <day_of_week_local>Wednesday</day_of_week_local> <temp_C>21</temp_C> <temp_F>70</temp_F> <dewp_F>36</dewp_F> <dewp_C>2</dewp_C> <rh_pct>28</rh_pct> <apparent_temp_F>70</apparent_temp_F> <apparent_temp_C>21</apparent_temp_C> <wnd_dir>SW</wnd_dir> <wnd_spd_mph>19</wnd_spd_mph> <wnd_spd_kph>31</wnd_spd_kph> <press_in>30.02</press_in> <press_mb>1016.6</press_mb> <wx>Clear</wx> <wx_code>100</wx_code> <cld_cover>Clear</cld_cover> <wx_icon_url> `<http://weather.wdtinc.com/images/wxicons/day/clear.jpg>`_ </wx_icon_url> <day_night>day</day_night> <visibility_ft>52800</visibility_ft> <visibility_m>16093</visibility_m> <moon_phase>Waxing Crescent Moon</moon_phase> </sfc_ob> - <daily_summaries> - <daily_summary> <summary_date>2/10/2016</summary_date> <day_of_week>Wednesday</day_of_week> <max_temp_F>72</max_temp_F> <max_temp_C>22</max_temp_C> <min_temp_F>47</min_temp_F> <min_temp_C>8</min_temp_C> <wnd_spd_mph>11</wnd_spd_mph> <wnd_spd_kph>18</wnd_spd_kph> <min_wnd_spd_mph>7</min_wnd_spd_mph> <max_wnd_spd_mph>21</max_wnd_spd_mph> <wnd_gust_mph>29</wnd_gust_mph> <min_wnd_spd_kph>12</min_wnd_spd_kph> <max_wnd_spd_kph>33</max_wnd_spd_kph> <max_wnd_spd_mph>21</max_wnd_spd_mph> <wnd_gust_kph>46</wnd_gust_kph> <wnd_dir>WSW</wnd_dir> <pop>0</pop> <wx>Clear</wx> <wx_code>100</wx_code> <wx_icon_text>day/clear</wx_icon_text> <wx_icon_url> `<http://content.wdtinc.com/images/wxicons/day/clear.jpg>`_ </wx_icon_url> <wx_icon_url_png> `<http://content.wdtinc.com/images/wxicons_png/day/clear.png>`_ </wx_icon_url_png> <text_description>Clear</text_description>Clear <qpf_24hr_mm>0</qpf_24hr_mm> <qpf_24hr_in>0</qpf_24hr_in> <cdd1>0</cdd1> <cdd2>0</cdd2> <hdd1>5.37</hdd1> <hdd2>5.56</hdd2> <gdd>11.16</gdd> <gdu>89.1</gdu> <solunar_sunrise_utc>2016-02-10 13:21:00</solunar_sunrise_utc> <solunar_sunset_utc>2016-02-11 00:07:00</solunar_sunset_utc> <solunar_sun_state></solunar_sun_state> <solunar_moonrise_utc>2016-02-10 14:38:00</solunar_moonrise_utc> <solunar_moonset_utc>2016-02-11 02:45:00</solunar_moonset_utc> <solunar_moon_state></solunar_moon_state> </daily_summary> (9 more daily summaries) </daily_summaries> - <hourly_summaries> - <hourly_summary> <day_of_week_utc>Wednesday</day_of_week_utc> <time_utc>2016-02-10 22:00:00</time_utc> <temp_C>22</temp_C> <dewp_C>0</dewp_C> <app_temp_C>22</app_temp_C> <temp_F>72</temp_F> <dewp_F>31</dewp_F> <app_temp_F>72</app_temp_F> <rh_pct>21</rh_pct> <wx>Clear</wx> <wx_code>100</wx_code> <wx_icon_url>http://content.wdtinc.com/images/wxicons/day/clear.jpg</wx_icon_url> <wx_icon_url_png>http://content.wdtinc.com/images/wxicons_png/day/clear.png</wx_icon_url_png> <day_night>day</day_night> <qpf_01hr_mm>0.0</qpf_01hr_mm> <qpf_01hr_in>0</qpf_01hr_in> <pop>0</pop> <sky_cov_pct>2</sky_cov_pct> <wnd_dir_degs>240</wnd_dir_degs> <wnd_dir>WSW</wnd_dir> <wnd_spd_kph>27</wnd_spd_kph> <wnd_spd_mph>17</wnd_spd_mph> <wnd_spd_80m_kph>42</wnd_spd_80m_kph> <wnd_spd_80m_ms>12</wnd_spd_80m_ms> <wnd_spd_80m_mph>26</wnd_spd_80m_mph> <wnd_spd_100m_kph>44</wnd_spd_100m_kph> <wnd_spd_100m_ms>12</wnd_spd_100m_ms> <wnd_spd_100m_mph>27</wnd_spd_100m_mph> </hourly_summary> (239 more hourly summaries) </hourly_summaries> </location> </locations>
Response Status Codes
Status | Description |
---|---|
200 OK |
the request succeeded |
400 Bad Request |
the request body is syntactically invalid |
401 Unauthorized |
the authentication credentials are invalid, expired, or missing |
403 Forbidden |
the authentication credentials do not provide access to specified resource |
404 Not Found |
the specified resource does not exist |
422 Unprocessable Entity |
one or more request parameters are invalid |
429 Too Many Requests |
the request has been rate-limited (retry later) |
500 Internal Server Error |
something is wrong on the server (contact support if the issue persists) |
503 Service Unavailable |
the API is unavailable (contact support if the issue persists) |