Author Topic: Current Conditions & 5-Day Forecast (Read 5670 times)

Impala88 · « **on:** January 20, 2017, 08:57:38 AM »

Is anyone else having problems retrieving current conditions and the 5-day forecast from WU? Mine stopped updating around noon Thursday, January 19. I am in Irvine, California and tried switching the setting to Phoenix, AZ to see if that city's conditions and forecast would come up. It did, showing the current conditions and updated forecast for Phoenix, so it appears to be a localized issue.

Impala88 · « **Reply #1 on:** January 20, 2017, 09:02:17 AM »

I also noticed that the Mesonet data is not being retrieved. Last updates to that data was around 11:00 p.m. PST last night.

Jáchym · « **Reply #2 on:** January 20, 2017, 09:17:26 AM »

Look at the parallel thread, it is obviously problem on WU side, other people have problems as well
http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=30971.msg312028;topicseen#msg312028

Impala88 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 20, 2017, 10:51:55 AM »

Thank you. I had seen that thread but until yesterday the forecast and current conditions were not affected. I'd sure hate to be one of their help desk reps right now!

Jáchym · « **Reply #4 on:** January 20, 2017, 10:55:43 AM »

Based on previous experience, I dont think there is any help desk really and if, they probably are already at home enjoying Friday afteroon and weekend... it is unbelievable how unreliable this site is, yes it is free, but still, everything keeps on breaking almost on a daily basis and the support and communication with users is awful and arrogant

Impala88 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 20, 2017, 11:22:37 AM »

I have submitted a help ticket on the issue. I'll report back what the answer is, if and when I get it.

Jáchym · « **Reply #6 on:** January 20, 2017, 11:54:09 AM »

As always:
Very active on their FB profile (last post 22mins ago): https://www.facebook.com/wunderground/?fref=ts

And all users´ posts deleted or ignored, how typical for WU

Jester · « **Reply #7 on:** January 21, 2017, 07:29:10 AM »

Are you guys/gals still having issues w/ Warnings, Mesonet, current conditions and 5 day forecast from WU? Ref: http://www.castletonweather.net/

Impala88 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 21, 2017, 10:47:20 AM »

Yes.

I submitted a help ticket but haven't gotten a response yet and probably won't until Monday at the earliest. Until it's rectified I am working on alternative data retrieval methods.

Jester · « **Reply #9 on:** January 21, 2017, 12:08:11 PM »

Quote from: Impala88 on January 21, 2017, 10:47:20 AM

Yes. I submitted a help ticket but haven't gotten a response yet and probably won't until Monday at the earliest. Until it's rectified I am working on alternative data retrieval methods.

Your website looks good and up to date. Are you getting data from another source?

Impala88 · « **Reply #10 on:** January 21, 2017, 09:10:17 PM »

I am using Hamweather for the current conditions and Weatherforyou.com for the forecasts. Hamweather will suffice for the time being, however the current conditions are consistently 30-35 minutes after the top of the hour. When the WU & NOAA downloads worked they updated at the top of the hour.

Impala88 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 22, 2017, 04:46:26 PM »

I have not heard back from anyone at WU, but I did get a reply from Ed at Ambient:

Quote

It does appear that Wunderground has turned off this feature and it is no longer available.

Regards,

Ed

This would make VWS useless for downloading forecasts and weather warnings.

GregJ · « **Reply #12 on:** January 22, 2017, 09:03:42 PM »

Impala88.... That is BAD news from Ed. I hope it's not true and WU won't leave us hanging.... I have been looking for alternatives and nothing is as seamless and simple as the VWS embed code with tags.... But, a new thread could be started for alternatives to warnings and 5 day forecasts for folks who embed them into personal sites. Thanks for staying on top of this....

Greg

Impala88 · « **Reply #13 on:** January 23, 2017, 03:50:41 AM »

Unfortunately, it appears that Ed has totally lost interest in VWS. I wish Ambient would either sell it off or make it open source.

Impala88 · « **Reply #14 on:** January 23, 2017, 04:00:45 AM »

With the NOAA downloads not working for almost two years and the future of the WU downloads in doubt, at this time the only option of getting current conditions using VWS is Hamweather. As I have stated many times in the past, it's not really acceptable as the "top of the hour" (actually 9-7 minutes before the hour) Metar downloads don't usually show up until 30-35 minutes after the hour. So my "current conditions" are usually more than half an hour old.

One peculiar thing I have noticed is that the "special" Metar reports will often show up on the next data retrieval interval. For instance: KSNA just had a "special" Metar at 00:22 PST which showed up on my regular 00:35 PST download. Another one was at :44 after the hour and it showed up in the :50 download interval! I have seen this quite often with the Hamweather downloads, as a matter of fact.

Does anyone know why the Hamweather downloads act in this manner? I contacted Hamweather some time ago and they said they would look into the issue but I never heard back from them. I'll try contacting them again and see what they say.

BrianSB · « **Reply #15 on:** January 23, 2017, 06:48:27 PM »

@impala88 - Your site is very well done! I would be interested in knowing how you get the data from Hamweather. I went there and it looks like someone else has taken it over and you have to pay $20 a month minimum. Is there another hamweather somewhere that I am missing? I also do not know how you integrate that into a a template. I am using a version of VWS that is several years old. If it ain't broke don't fix it. But, now it's broke. I would really prefer something else that runs as a Windows service or Linux daemon, but I have VWS configured just the way I need it.

wesleyremmel · « **Reply #16 on:** January 23, 2017, 06:52:46 PM »

@impala88 - So I understand the warning updates are gone forever from WUnderground?

My Glendale Arizona Weather Station

wesleyremmel · « **Reply #17 on:** January 23, 2017, 06:55:04 PM »

www.myglendalewxs.com

Impala88 · « **Reply #18 on:** January 24, 2017, 06:36:26 AM »

@BrianSB: Thank you for the compliment! I am getting the downloads from Hamweather by using the Metar download in VWS and switching from NOAA to Hamweather. Then I switched the tag(s) from ^climate_icon1^ to ^mtr013KSNA^ for the sky and the other tags for the weather categories needed. I'm using the latest version but I've been using VWS since version 12 so I believe it's the same in the older versions.

Impala88 · « **Reply #19 on:** January 24, 2017, 06:41:13 AM »

@wesleyremmel: For now it appears that way. Whether or not it's permanent remains to be seen as I have not gotten any response from the help ticket I submitted with WU. This happened a few years ago and straightened itself out after a week or so. Let's hope it does again.

tkrotchko · « **Reply #20 on:** January 24, 2017, 09:58:54 AM »

Quote from: Impala88 on January 24, 2017, 06:36:26 AM

@BrianSB: Thank you for the compliment! I am getting the downloads from Hamweather by using the Metar download in VWS and switching from NOAA to Hamweather. Then I switched the tag(s) from ^climate_icon1^ to ^mtr013KSNA^ for the sky and the other tags for the weather categories needed. I'm using the latest version but I've been using VWS since version 12 so I believe it's the same in the older versions.

I'd like more info on how you did this.

I'm already dealing with Windows 10 issues and the software (I have the PC reboot itself after midnight), and now this comes along and basically just ruins the website.

If you could publish detailed information on how to fix this, it would be outstanding.

--Tom

BrianSB · « **Reply #21 on:** January 24, 2017, 10:14:15 AM »

@impala88: Are you paying for a subscription to Hamweather (or whatever it is now)? I see they have icon sets there, but if there is a free public feed, they must bury it somewhere.

It looks like we have also lost the Weather Exchange Network. I liked that because there are a surprisingly large number of installations in my area that report to Wunderground, and seeing close by neighborhood conditions was interesting. Nice of Wunderground to keep accepting our data and cut off our feed.

For now, I would settle for forecasts and warnings. But if I have to go to heroic efforts to rescue my website with a handful of workarounds, I will likely chalk VWS as a relic and put the work into something else.

tkrotchko · « **Reply #22 on:** January 24, 2017, 10:19:38 AM »

Quote from: BrianSB on January 24, 2017, 10:14:15 AM

@impala88: Are you paying for a subscription to Hamweather (or whatever it is now)? I see they have icon sets there, but if there is a free public feed, they must bury it somewhere.

It looks like we have also lost the Weather Exchange Network. I liked that because there are a surprisingly large number of installations in my area that report to Wunderground, and seeing close by neighborhood conditions was interesting. Nice of Wunderground to keep accepting our data and cut off our feed.

For now, I would settle for forecasts and warnings. But if I have to go to heroic efforts to rescue my website with a handful of workarounds, I will likely chalk VWS as a relic and put the work into something else.

This probably should have been expected when IBM bought Weather Underground just over a year ago. They likely purchased it to have a source of weather data to sell to corporations as part of their big data initiatives. In that environment, it may be hard to get their attention on something they view as a distraction.

GregJ · « **Reply #23 on:** January 24, 2017, 02:51:11 PM »

Thought I would share what I have done this morning. I went into the code on my site and commented out all points that referenced Weather Underground data. I put an explanation of what is going on at the top of my page…. Some subtle digs…. Here is a link so you can see what I did…. http://skunkbayweather.com/

Then I remembered that the big American Meteorologist Society National convention is in Seattle this week. All the top meteorologists and weather related businesses from all around the country are at this gathering. I am sure that Weather Underground is at this convention and probably even has a booth. I know Cliff Mass (the weather guru of the Northwest) fairly well. I emailed him this morning and asked a favor. I explained the situation and asked if he could either talk to them or share my email/phone so they could contact me. Cliff got back to me right away and said he would see what he could do….. Cliff is a real doer and very highly respected in the weather community. If there is any opening for something to be done, I am sure he will pounce on it. I’ll keep everybody posted.

tkrotchko · « **Reply #24 on:** January 24, 2017, 04:52:54 PM »

Quote from: GregJ on January 24, 2017, 02:51:11 PM

[...]

Then I remembered that the big American Meteorologist Society National convention is in Seattle this week. All the top meteorologists and weather related businesses from all around the country are at this gathering. I am sure that Weather Underground is at this convention and probably even has a booth. I know Cliff Mass (the weather guru of the Northwest) fairly well. I emailed him this morning and asked a favor. I explained the situation and asked if he could either talk to them or share my email/phone so they could contact me. Cliff got back to me right away and said he would see what he could do….. Cliff is a real doer and very highly respected in the weather community. If there is any opening for something to be done, I am sure he will pounce on it. I’ll keep everybody posted.

I got a response from WU today:

"The system that Ambient Weather relies on for that page hasn't been an active product for several years, although it can mostly work using a legacy connection. Ideally, they need to update it to our current weather API. But I don't believe they have plans to do that."

I've asked the gentleman to explain how to take advantage the "legacy connection" that he refers to.

News:

Author Topic: Current Conditions & 5-Day Forecast (Read 5670 times)