Author Topic: NWS Forecast Problems?  (Read 9826 times)

xairbusdriver

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Re: NWS Forecast Problems?
« Reply #15 on: May 09, 2018, 07:44:44 PM »
I've given up on NOAA and their SOAP servers, I think they need a bigger 'soap dish'! I've simply deleted all but the graphical and the Detailed displays. The first is easy to get the 'big picture' and if details are desired, it's there. Since it's my site and I almost always went to the Detailed part, I saw no need for garbage or nothing in the other tab. I'm happy and what else matters?
I'll  be right there dear...
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
Those that use metric = #1 Measurement system
And the United States = The Banana system


wvdkuil

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Re: NWS Forecast Problems?
« Reply #16 on: May 09, 2018, 09:02:30 PM »
I've given up on NOAA and their SOAP servers, I think they need a bigger 'soap dish'! I've simply deleted all but the graphical and the Detailed displays. The first is easy to get the 'big picture' and if details are desired, it's there. Since it's my site and I almost always went to the Detailed part, I saw no need for garbage or nothing in the other tab. I'm happy and what else matters?
I'll  be right there dear...
As I am not living in the US and also not that familiar with all the problems NWS/NOAA is facing I could need some help  and feed-back.

At the "beta" forecast script page https://www.weerstation-herent.be/saratoga/wsfct4/  there are two separate NWS/NOAA forecast scripts.
  • The "plain page" = "point-click forecast"  which should be migrating to the new environment in August 2018,  16 months later later then announced last year.
    The link = https://www.weerstation-herent.be/saratoga/wsfct4/wsNoaaPPage.php .  If the script is using the current or "to be"  data  can be seen on the first line "National Weather Service (v3) Forecast for: Some area
    v2 is the current point-click data, v3 is the test version of the new system
  • There is also the "detailed" forecast https://www.weerstation-herent.be/saratoga/wsfct4/wsNoaaDPage.php for which no cutover date is known to me.
    They are still changing it but those changes are more with links to icons, not with the data-structure itself.
    Until all settles down, I had to  split those two forecast into separate web-pages as they interfere to much with all those changes
But if you want to test those scripts, feel free to do so. At the bottom of the https://www.weerstation-herent.be/saratoga/wsfct4/ page there is a download link.

Wim
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xairbusdriver

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Re: NWS Forecast Problems?
« Reply #17 on: March 20, 2019, 12:40:03 AM »
For the last few weeks, the SOAP servers have been acting up (corrupted files/info) a large percentage of most days. It's that inconsistency that is frustrating to me. [banghead] I must admit that I haven't followed up on Mr. van der Kuil's suggestion. That may be the best solution. ;D

It is also frustrating to think that our own government can't seem to reliably provide this kind of information. [rolleyes2] I'm sure there are commercial entities that would accept my money for their forecasts. But this is, after all, simply a hobby for me. I doubt even a couple of folks on my street ever visit my web site. For my own purposes, I can interpret a forecast map enough to know the general weather for the next few days.

So, first question: Is there a reliable, free, US-based source for forecasts mainly for the US of A?

Second question: Is there a similar service but from another area of the world? I have 'played' with www.weather-forecast.com and could probably "borrow" their output and they might never discover my local address in order to send a 'cease and desist' order! [rolleyes2] :o :-\
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
Those that use metric = #1 Measurement system
And the United States = The Banana system


saratogaWX

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Re: NWS Forecast Problems?
« Reply #18 on: March 20, 2019, 04:57:13 PM »
The premier free USA forecast source is from weather.gov (the NWS site).  There are (as Wim cited) two versions of my advforecast2.php script that use this data.  The V4 script is a 'page scraper' from the point-printable forecast produced by a MapClick.php URL -- this is the current 'production' version of the NWS website and is the best maintained, most reliable.

For a couple of years now, a 'replacement' for www.weather.gov has been in development/testing at https://forecast-v3.weather.gov/ and it relies on data provided via https://api.weather.gov/ -- my advforecast2.php V5 script uses this JSON API and relies on the lat/long to find the forecast.  The API is WAY more atomic than one would expect -- it requires multiple API accesses to gather the data for a forecast, but since much of the extra accesses can be safely cached (data doesn't change), it only resulted in some additional coding the gather/cache when a new forecast point is accessed.  The basic issue with api.weather.gov is it is still in BETA and so support and reliability are both lacking -- NWS local offices are sometimes lax in loading the point forecast data from the models into the api.weather.gov services, so sometime only a zone forecast is available for extended periods.  The production cutover is long overdue, and no word has been issued by the NWS on production timing for api.weather.gov.

The SOAP access to NWS data has been problematic for years, and I think they'll deprecate it in the future when the api.weather.gov is made productional.

Both of the above scripts only work for USA locations.  For worldwide locations, https://darksky.net/ has forecasts derived from various country models and provides a free, low-volume API key for developers (and hobbyists) -  My DS-forecast.php script uses their data.
One thing to note is that they only provide icons for Daytime weather but they have multilingual capability.

WeatherUnderground has deprecated their old API for a new weather.com (TWC) API that is free only to WU members who submit PWS data to them.  All others have to pay $$$ -- I have a WC-forecast.php script that handles their API.  It too is multilingual but only offers 5 days of forecasts (but both Day and Night icons).
Ken True/Saratoga, CA, USA main site: saratoga-weather.org
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The Grand Poohbah

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Re: NWS Forecast Problems?
« Reply #19 on: March 20, 2019, 06:03:19 PM »
Quote
Both of the above scripts only work for USA locations.  For worldwide locations, https://darksky.net/ has forecasts derived from various country models and provides a free, low-volume API key for developers (and hobbyists) -  My DS-forecast.php script uses their data.

I use the Dark Sky iOS App daily for local forecasts. It was also useful for the locations on our trip - Sydney NSW, Darwin NT and Brisbane OLD Australia; Bali, Indonesia, and Singapore. It's free if you don't mind the innocuous ads.

xairbusdriver

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Re: NWS Forecast Problems?
« Reply #20 on: March 20, 2019, 06:42:59 PM »
Thanks guys! I promise to take a look at all the suggestions before complaining again! [blush] I'd be happy to have just a plain text version or a table with data in consistent places. I don't mind (actually enjoy) putting stuff where and how I want. [lol]
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
Those that use metric = #1 Measurement system
And the United States = The Banana system


xairbusdriver

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Re: NWS Forecast Problems?
« Reply #21 on: March 20, 2019, 11:04:38 PM »
I think I may be able to use this basic, text-only, table-based page for my purposes. Images and other 'computed' items can be displayed by parsing the text (which I already have some experience with my METAR displays). It should be relatively easy to allow user input for different (US, at least) locations, possibly with Zip Codes. Again, the key factor is reliable data in a consistent format. Simple display is only slightly less important.

Thanks, again, Wim and Ken! ThU5:-)
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
Those that use metric = #1 Measurement system
And the United States = The Banana system