Short Range Forecast Nowcast

Overview

  • Domain Portfolio: Forecast
  • Domain: Short-Range Forecast
  • Geography: Global
  • Attribution Required: NO
  • Attribution Requirements: N/A

The short range Nowcast Forecast API is sourced from the TWC Forecast system. This API provides a text summary of the weather forecast for the next 6 hour period for today. Please refer to the Data Elements section later in this document for more details.

HTTP Headers and Data Lifetime - Caching and Expiration

For details on appropriate header values as well as caching and expiration definitions, please see The Weather Company Data | API Common Usage Guide.

Translated Fields:

This TWC API handles the translation of phrases. However, when formatting a request URL a valid language must be passed along (see the language code table for the supported codes).
  • narrative_32char
  • narrative_128char
  • narrative_256char
  • narrative_512char

Unit of Measure Requirement

The unit of measure for the response. These fields are only translated in en_US, en_GB and en_IN. The following values are supported:
  • e = English units
  • m = Metric units
  • h = Hybrid units (UK)

URL Construction

Aggregate Product Name: v2fcstnowcast

Atomic API URL Examples:
https://api.weather.com/v1/geocode/34.063/-84.217/forecast/nowcast.json?language=en-US&units=e&apiKey=yourApiKey

Request by Postal Code: Required Parameters: language, format, units, geocode, postal code apiKey=yourApiKey

The Postal Code has a TWC proprietary location type (4) with the following format: location/<postal code>:<location type>:<country code>
https://api.weather.com/v1/location/30075:4:US/forecast/nowcast.json?language=en-US&units=e&apiKey=yourApiKey
Request by Geocode (Latitude & Longitude): Required Parameters: language, format, units, geocode, postal code apiKey=yourApiKey

Data Elements & Definitions

Note: Field names are sorted alphabetically in the table below for presentation purposes. The table below does not represent the sort order of the API response.

Field Name Description Type Range Sample Nulls Allowed
class Data identifier string fod_short_range_nowcast   N
expire_time_gmt Expiration time in UNIX seconds epoch 1369252800   N
fcst_valid Time forecast is valid, at the top of current UTC hour, or at the bottom of current UTC hour if minute > 30 epoch 1369252800   N
fcst_valid_local Time forecast is valid in local apparent time,, at the top of current UTC hour, or at the bottom of current UTC hour if minute > 30. ISO YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS-NNNN; NNNN=GMT offset 2014-08-20T10:47:59-0500 N
icon_code This number is the key to the weather icon lookup. The data field shows the icon number that is matched to represent the observed weather conditions. Please refer to the Forecast Icon Code, Weather Phrases and Images document. Integer 16   N
narrative_128char

Short term forecast summarized to 128-character limitation.

Only available in en_US, en_GB and en_IN

 String Mostly cloudy. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.   Y
narrative_256char

Short term forecast summarized to 256-character limitation.

Only available in en_US, en_GB and en_IN

 String Mostly cloudy. Temperatures steady in the low teens. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.   Y
narrative_32char

Short term forecast summarized to 32-character limitation.

Only available in en_US, en_GB and en_IN

 String Mostly cloudy.   Y
narrative_512char

Full short term forecast of up to 512 characters.

Only available in en_US, en_GB and en_IN

 String Occasional snow showers with a period of steadier snow arriving around 10am. Snow will end around late morning. Mostly cloudy with temperatures warming into the low to middle 20s. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 40%. No significant snow accumulations through 1:30pm.   N
peak_severity

A code denoting how impactful is the forecasted weather for this forecast period.

0 = no threat, 6 = dangerous / life threatening

 Integer 0 to 6 3 N
peak_wind A code denoting the peak wind found within the forecast period. Integer 0 to 200 32 N
qpf The forecasted measurable precipitation (liquid or liquid equivalent) for the forecast period. Decimal 0.00 to 99.99 1.28 N

JSON Sample


{
    "metadata": {
      "language": "en-US",
      "transaction_id": "1473206764628:319273988",
      "version": "1",
      "latitude": 34.06,
      "longitude": -84.21,
      "units": "e",
      "expire_time_gmt": 1473207206,
      "status_code": 200
  },
    "forecast": {
      "class": "fod_short_range_nowcast",
      "expire_time_gmt": 1473207206,
      "fcst_valid": 1473206400,
      "fcst_valid_local": "2016-09-06T20:00:00-0400",
      "icon_code": 31,
      "qpf": 0,
      "peak_wind": 2,
      "peak_severity": 1,
      "narrative_512char": "Clear. Temperatures falling into the low 70s. Winds light and variable.",
      "narrative_256char": "Clear. Temperatures falling into the low 70s. Winds light and variable.",
      "narrative_128char": "Clear. Winds light and variable.",
      "narrative_32char": "Clear."
 }
}