Author Topic: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem  (Read 10672 times)

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Offline tshattuck

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NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« on: December 05, 2017, 05:48:29 PM »
Hello:
I am utilizing the Saratoga-Weather.org php scripts and have an issue.

My default Point Forecast for Clay, NY has not been available many times over the past several weeks. I noticed several other locations (forecasts) which use the same Zone NYS018 however were available at the same time.
I went into the Settings.php file and moved location Syracuse, NY which also uses NYS018 to the top line and it stopped working the script states "The detailed point weather forecast is not currently available."
If I leave Syracuse on any line other than the first (default) it works - no error message. I should also note if I move Clay to another line in the script it works.
I also changed the zone while leaving Clay, NY in the default position and it worked.

I don't understand what is happening. Help!

Any assistance is appreciated.
« Last Edit: December 05, 2017, 06:00:14 PM by tshattuck »

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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2017, 06:49:27 PM »
It's likely an NWS issue with api.weather.gov and point-forecast data.  When it happens again, check https://forecast-v3.weather.gov/point/43.1858,-76.1728 to see if the same thing is shown (that site uses the api.forecast.gov too).
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Offline tshattuck

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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #2 on: December 06, 2017, 08:55:42 AM »
Ken:
Thanks for the quick reply. I thought there was something wrong with the php script. I will keep watching for the error and check as you suggested.

Offline tshattuck

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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #3 on: December 06, 2017, 04:28:56 PM »
Ken / Folks:

An update:
The same error has occurred two separate times today. The default forecast is currently not working and is displaying incorrect data. This is affecting my index page and the forecast page: http://yourlocalweather-clay-ny.com/wxforecast.php on my website. The problem appears to be with zone NYS018 only. I checked https://forecast-v3.weather.gov/point/43.1858,-76.1728 and I do see a forecast.
This issue does not occur with any other forecasts on my forecast page. If I change the default to Syracuse, NY, which also uses NYS018 it also stops working. If I leave Syracuse down in my list of available forecast locations it works.
Is anyone else having this problem or is anyone aware of any maintenance the NWS is performing that is causing this issue?
Is there a work around for this problem? This has become very frustrating and it doesn't help my website. :!:

Regards,

« Last Edit: December 06, 2017, 04:31:21 PM by tshattuck »

Offline tshattuck

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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #4 on: December 06, 2017, 04:45:40 PM »
The default forecast is now working. Go figure! I checked https://forecast-v3.weather.gov/point/43.1858,-76.1728 and see that it now states "Current" were as before it stated "Not Current".

I hope the NWS gets this resolved soon this is driving me crazy.  :roll:
I wish there was another way we could pull the data.

Thanks

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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #5 on: December 06, 2017, 04:48:06 PM »
Ummm... NYS018 is not a forecast Zone.  NYZ018 is the zone forecast, but.. you have it correctly configured

Two places to look when it fails:
1) a view-source of the page will show what the script has accessed and processed.
2) look at the cache file itself ./cache/forecast-NYZ018-0-json.txt to see what it says.

A successful Point forecast load looks like
Quote
<!-- advforecast2.php (JSON) - V5.04 - 11-Oct-2017 on PHP 7.0.25-->
<!-- RAW NWS URL: http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Clay&state=NY&site=BGM&textField1=43.1858&textField2=-76.1728&e=1&TextType=2 -->
<!-- zone=NYZ018 -->
<!-- corrected NWS API URL='https://api.weather.gov/points/43.1858,-76.1728/forecast' -->
<!-- curl fetching 'https://api.weather.gov/points/43.1858,-76.1728/forecast' -->
<!-- HTTP stats:  RC=200 dest=38.68.168.88 port=443 (from sce=50.62.177.13)
      Times: dns=0.000 conn=0.011 pxfer=0.047 get=0.013 total=0.060 secs -->
<!-- loaded https://api.weather.gov/points/43.1858,-76.1728/forecast - 10406 bytes -->
<!-- wrote cache file ./cache/forecast-NYZ018-0-json.txt -->
<!-- meta info re: point='43.1858,-76.1728' zone='NYZ018' metacache= './cache/forecast-NYZ018-0-json-meta.txt' -->
<!-- metaZoneURL='https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/NYZ018' -->
<!-- loaded meta info from ./cache/forecast-NYZ018-0-json-meta.txt -->
<!-- META
Array
(
    [city] => 3 Miles SSW Brewerton
    [state] => NY
    [point] => 43.1858,-76.1728
    [forecastOfficeURL] => https://api.weather.gov/offices/BGM
    [forecastZoneURL] => https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/NYZ018
    [forecastZone] => NYZ018
    [forecastHourlyURL] => https://api.weather.gov/points/43.1858,-76.1728/forecast/hourly
    [forecastGridDataURL] => https://api.weather.gov/gridpoints/BGM/50,104
    [observationStationsURL] => https://api.weather.gov/points/43.1858,-76.1728/stations
    [countyZoneURL] => https://api.weather.gov/zones/county/NYC067
    [countyZone] => NYC067
    [fireWeatherZoneURL] => https://api.weather.gov/zones/fire/NYZ018
    [fireWeatherZone] => NYZ018
    [timeZone] => America/New_York
    [radarStation] => KTYX
    [zoneName] => Onondaga
    [WFOname] => Binghamton/Johnson City, NY
)
 -->
<!-- point forecast processing -->

Since the issue is transient, and I can't reproduce it, you'll have to capture that data as it is occuring in order for further diagnosis...

A successful Zone forecast load looks like
Quote
<!-- advforecast2.php (JSON) - V5.04 - 11-Oct-2017 on PHP 7.0.25-->
<!-- RAW NWS URL: http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Clay&state=NY&site=BGM&textField1=43.1858&textField2=-76.1728&e=1&TextType=2 -->
<!-- zone=NYZ018 -->
<!-- corrected NWS API URL='https://api.weather.gov/points/43.1858,-76.1728/forecast' -->
<!-- curl fetching 'https://api.weather.gov/zones/JSON-LD/NYZ018/forecast' -->
<!-- HTTP stats:  RC=200 dest=38.68.168.88 port=443 (from sce=50.62.177.13)
      Times: dns=0.000 conn=0.010 pxfer=0.043 get=0.012 total=0.055 secs -->
<!-- loaded (Zone forecast) https://api.weather.gov/zones/JSON-LD/NYZ018/forecast - 15762 bytes -->
<!-- wrote cache file ./cache/forecast-NYZ018-0-json.txt -->
<!-- meta info re: point='43.1858,-76.1728' zone='NYZ018' metacache= './cache/forecast-NYZ018-0-json-meta.txt' -->
<!-- metaZoneURL='https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/NYZ018' -->
<!-- loaded meta info from ./cache/forecast-NYZ018-0-json-meta.txt -->
<!-- META
Array
(
    [city] => 3 Miles SSW Brewerton
    [state] => NY
    [point] => 43.1858,-76.1728
    [forecastOfficeURL] => https://api.weather.gov/offices/BGM
    [forecastZoneURL] => https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/NYZ018
    [forecastZone] => NYZ018
    [forecastHourlyURL] => https://api.weather.gov/points/43.1858,-76.1728/forecast/hourly
    [forecastGridDataURL] => https://api.weather.gov/gridpoints/BGM/50,104
    [observationStationsURL] => https://api.weather.gov/points/43.1858,-76.1728/stations
    [countyZoneURL] => https://api.weather.gov/zones/county/NYC067
    [countyZone] => NYC067
    [fireWeatherZoneURL] => https://api.weather.gov/zones/fire/NYZ018
    [fireWeatherZone] => NYZ018
    [timeZone] => America/New_York
    [radarStation] => KTYX
    [zoneName] => Onondaga
    [WFOname] => Binghamton/Johnson City, NY
)
 -->
<!-- ZONE forecast processing -->
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Offline tshattuck

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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #6 on: December 07, 2017, 12:49:49 PM »
Ken:
Sorry about the zone name had a senior moment.  :oops:
My default forecast is down again. I have attached the file you wanted to see. The file was captured while the forecast was not working today. This seems to be happening now every day between 8:00am & 5:00pm. I have to wonder what changed.
The default forecast worked again last evening.

Hopefully you see something that can be addressed.

Thanks for your patience and assistance.


Offline Maumelle Weather

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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #7 on: December 07, 2017, 01:09:56 PM »
Hi Tom,

I just ran the following:   http://yourlocalweather-clay-ny.com/wxforecast.php?force=1

and the forecast updated based on what I'm seeing.

John
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Offline tshattuck

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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #8 on: December 07, 2017, 01:40:58 PM »
John:
Yes it's working again. :???: 
It's been crazy over the past week, I don't know if it's the script or the NWS.

I noticed the following two lines when I viewed the page source for http://yourlocalweather-clay-ny.com/wxforecast.php when the Point Forecast was not working and they don't appear in Ken's examples.

<!-- loaded cache file ./cache/forecast-NYZ018-0-json.txt - 15762 bytes -->
<!-- point forecast more than 12hrs old (age h:m:s is 343:59:07) .. use Zone forecast instead -->

Now that it's working the page source matches Ken's example for a successful Point Forecast.

I haven't changed anything on my end so I am guessing it's the NWS.

Hopefully Ken can tell what is happening from the file I sent him.

Thanks
 
« Last Edit: December 07, 2017, 01:59:11 PM by tshattuck »

Offline Maumelle Weather

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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #9 on: December 07, 2017, 02:08:20 PM »
Hi Tom,

It's the NWS, I assure you. Very frustrating for all of us. I'm sure Ken is tired of beating his head against the wall on this crap.
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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #10 on: December 07, 2017, 03:57:16 PM »
Ditto... It's the NWS.

If you want to use the older V4.02 advforecast2.php page-scraper script instead, it's attached.  When then NWS switches to the new site design, (or to https), it will likely cease to work (and I won't be updating it).
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Offline tshattuck

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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #11 on: December 08, 2017, 07:23:50 AM »
Ken:
Thanks for your efforts. It's good to know what the problem is. I learned a little more in the past few days on how the php script works. It's never too late to teach an old dog new tricks.  ;)
It's frustrating to see the bad data go on my website when the NWS is messing around with their API. I will stay with the current script and hope the NWS stops changing their API.

Best Regards

Offline jgillett

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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #12 on: December 08, 2017, 10:59:38 AM »
I have almost daily problems here with NWS messing around. Most of the time ?force=1 fixes it immediately. Nice ammo to have!
John
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Offline tshattuck

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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #13 on: December 08, 2017, 03:33:10 PM »
John / Ken:
How does code: ?force=1 work?
I seen that mentioned before but don't know how it works or where to place the code in the script.

Thanks for your assistance.

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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #14 on: December 08, 2017, 03:54:21 PM »
John / Ken:
How does code: ?force=1 work?
I seen that mentioned before but don't know how it works or where to place the code in the script.

Thanks for your assistance.
Tom, in your case it would simply be http://yourlocalweather-clay-ny.com/wxforecast.php?force=1. I use the link to mine when Ken's error message about the zone/point forecast shows up on the forecast page. Yours is not failing at the time of this writing. Note that it might not work all the time. For me it seems to fail when NWS has their fingers deeper than usual in trying to get the forecasts to work right. Also not all zones will fail at the same time, only those with which they are fussing.
John
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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #15 on: December 08, 2017, 04:05:27 PM »
The ?force=1 is an optional argument on the URL to the page, not something you configure in the script.  Add it to wxforecast.php?force=1 in your browser URL to force a cache reload of the point-forecast.  A wxforecast.php?force=2 will force a Zone forecast instead.

So.. don't 'place it in the script' .. just use it (when needed) on the browser URL to cause the cache to reload the point or zone forecast as needed.
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Offline tshattuck

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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #16 on: December 09, 2017, 09:52:42 AM »
John & Ken:

Thanks for the feedback. I will keep this info in my notes.

Regards

Offline W3DRM

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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #17 on: December 14, 2017, 12:06:02 AM »
For the past couple of days, I've had issues with the point forecast too. My homepage merely stops midway down the screen. When I look at my detailed forecast page I get the following NWS error message:

Sorry.. the forecast for Minden - Johnson Lane is not available at this time.
NWS server https://api.weather.gov/points/39.0386,-119.7211/forecast has an error.
View the source of this page for additional information in HTML comments.

If I use the ?force=1, I get the same message but if I use ?force=2, it looks fine except that it says "The detailed point forecast weather is not currently available."

Guess I'll just have to be patient...
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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #18 on: December 14, 2017, 07:38:53 AM »
It's happening down here in south Alabama this morning...hopefully it clears up.

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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #19 on: December 14, 2017, 11:02:47 AM »
Working fine again here in northern Nevada. I just hate all of the emails I get when it appears my website is having problems and it isn't even my problem! I sure wish NWS would get its' act together or at least test new stuff, if that is what they are doing, off-line so it doesn't impact the rest of the world!
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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #20 on: December 14, 2017, 01:41:39 PM »
The old page-scraper version still works.. you can regress to that version if you like.  There's still no word from the NWS as to likely cutover date, and it's been 1.5 years since they started the V3 version of forecast.weather.gov site.  Yes, there are still issues with the API having missing or just spectacularly wrong temps/wind speeds as the load of GFS->api in their back-end gets funky.
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Offline Intheswamp

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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #21 on: December 19, 2017, 03:27:29 PM »
It's been five days and the forecasts are still missing.  I"m going to see if I can remember how to set up the old version that Ken linked to.  This is what I've been afraid would happen for me...letting my website run so long that I forget how to do things.<sigh> :neutral:

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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #22 on: December 19, 2017, 05:19:09 PM »
Since you're using the Saratoga USA template, and you have entries in your Settings.php (which you do), you can just replace the existing advforecast2.php with the older version.. no muss, no fuss :)

Don't forget to change Settings.php
Code: [Select]
$SITE['fcstscript']        = 'advforecast-json.php';  // USA-only NWS Forecast script
to
Code: [Select]
$SITE['fcstscript']        = 'advforecast2.php';  // USA-only NWS Forecast script
to enable the older version.
« Last Edit: December 19, 2017, 05:21:38 PM by saratogaWX »
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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #23 on: December 20, 2017, 08:47:26 AM »
Ok, everybody...  I think we've still got time to set up a GoFundMe page and still order that Superman cape shipped via Amazon Prime for Ken!!!   UU \:D/

Thanks Ken...that worked perfectly!!!  At least I can still follow directions (sometimes<grin>).  I don't know exactly what you do for a living nor who you work for or if maybe you work for yourself but one thing is for certain they just don't know what a treasure they must have with you 'cause I know the folks here have one!!!!!!!!!!  Thanks again!!!  =D&gt;

Merry Christmas!!!!
Ed

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Re: NWS Detailed Point Forecast Problem
« Reply #24 on: December 20, 2017, 11:10:31 AM »
A Merry Christmas to you too, Ed!

Thank you for the kind words!  Fortunately, I've been retired since 2004, so my time is not beholden to corporate interests -- it's just my (sometimes all-consuming) hobby.

Best regards,
Ken
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