End of Service for the Weather Underground API (updated September 6, 2018)

leaves more questions than answers

Indeed.

As you have probably seen/read on other weather-related community/forum site, many station operators are simply confused as to what is going to happen to the data they have been uploading for years (since nothing has been decided about the access to the Weather Underground API) or the station operators are just ending the upload of their data to Weather Underground…

I do pay a monthly amount to WU for the use of an api key
I have had no communication from WU about what is going to happen

it looks like the cost is going to go up significantly
which I will not be able to afford
so I will have to remove from WD the WU api functions (as even free api keys will not work either)
(those functions are to use WU as a data source --they do though say personal weather station owners will have access to their own data…so maybe that will work via a user apikey?)
and the wunderground station data (newish function added to WD)


If I was reading correctly, so for a PWS owner like most of us here the only get to get our own data off WU and no other options unless we jump for an enterprise (probably expensive as hell) license to use their system.?

I’m not a WU fan but that’s not how I read this:

If you are a Personal Weather Station owner, you will receive more information about our plan to offer free access to the data you provide to Weather Underground. We

I see, that’s kind of what I got reading that… So I can get free access to the data I already have? On my next maintenance run, I’ll be nuking the WU data stream on my side… Thanks for nothing WU.

Ah, now I see what you you mean, access only to your own data isn’t worth much :roll:

Indeed, from what I have I read in other forums and from all the speculations created from the lack of information from Weather Underground, most weather stations operators believe that the only data available to them will be their own data as, it seems, the API will only be available to those that are willing to pay for its access (at high costs)… :frowning:

…but it’s ok for them to turn around and sell your data… :x

I’ve signed up on the WU API forum and posted my question(s) there.

The fate of WU-forecast.php hangs on having a free API use for our hobbyist/contributors in the future. Meanwhile, it sounds like the existing WU API will work through 12/2018.

Time will tell…

I suggest we mount a “protest” by immediately turning off any uploads to WU … see if that gets their attention?

Times have changed. I really don’t think WU cares as much about PWS data as it did some years ago when internet capable wx station/software ownership was an enthusiast thing. Climate change has triggered a proliferation of “official” weather stations that they can tap into, and the availability of cheap IOT consumer weather stations has generated an avalanche of poor quality PWS data being uploaded to WU. The writing is on the wall IMHO.

So, what are we suppose to notice - what is different from the link that I originally posted more than a month ago?

It is interesting to see how little progress has been made in that month in coming up with the promised information…

Was something promised? :roll:

This may be a dumb questyion but what is an ‘API’ key??

This may sound stupid but what is an ‘API’ key??

they do have currently (or used to ) a free api key
which allows you to retrieve things like a 5 or 10 day forecast, rain radar maps, etc
you would put that key in say a script to retrieve that data

you can also (or could) pay to get a api key where you can ask for more data above the free limits (i.e for commercial applications etc)

API = Application Programming Interface = an interface giving access to third party programs. “key” = password/passcode that allows access, and defines level of access via the API.