Nowadays, many applications tend to use weather data. This data can be useful for weather sites or simply displaying current weather. Thus, it is critical to obtain weather forecasts and historical weather data in a timely and trustworthy manner. Companies tend to use a built-in weather rest API for their applications as it simplifies the job significantly. However, it’s challenging to find a good weather API as the expectation differs from reality. So we have decided to discuss ten quick tips about weather APIs in this article.
Table of Contents
1. How secure is the API?
You will have the least trouble dealing with security issues when using the Weatherstack API. It’s incredibly safe and secure to use as it only permits 256-bit HTTPS encryption exchanges and employs bank-level encryption. It will provide users with a unique access key that needs to be included in the API request, making the API more secure.
2. Can I get real-time weather conditions?
The main purpose of a weather API is to provide accurate and real-time weather data based on a location. Users will get the most accurate information as weather data is more likely to be updated each time you make a request. Moreover, Weatherstack gets its data from reputable weather stations to guarantee reliability and precision. You can retrieve weather information of any desired location by simply adding the selected location to the current endpoint of the API.
3. Can we look up past weather conditions?
Another advantage of a weather API is checking on past weather conditions, which you can use for weather predictions. You can use Weatherstack to collect historical weather data in addition to real-time reports. It will extract all the data from a given date range or analyze historical weather information from any point in time. Simply provide a single date (after July 2008) or several dates separated by semicolons into the historical endpoint of the Weatherstack API. Then it will use that date as the historical date argument and check for historical weather data dating back to 2008.
4. Does it support a variety of programming languages?
Supporting multiple programming languages is essential as it enables utilizing the API on multiple platforms. Weatherstack supports a variety of programming languages, including PHP, Python, jQuery, Ruby, Nodejs, and Go. You may learn how to use Weatherstack with your preferred programming language from their documentation.
5. Can I get a weather forecast?
A weather forecast predicts what the weather will be like over the next several days. Usually, we get weather forecasts for a period of a week. Weatherstack allows you to obtain that data using the /forecast API endpoint. It provides a weather forecast for a maximum of up to 14 days.
6. Does it show errors once a query fails?
Detecting query failures is critical as it allows users to determine the cause of an error. Whenever a query backfires, the Weatherstack API returns a three-digit error code along with a human-readable “info” field that includes user recommendations. You can find some of the most common error codes in the Weatherstack documentation.
7. Does it support location lookup?
Obviously, the weather is different from location to location. As a result, every weather API should include a method for users to locate a specific location in order to obtain weather data for that location. Weatherstack does it better than any other API. It allows you to search for locations by typing in the name of the city or region, ZIP code, IP address, or the conventional latitude and longitude parameters. You can use the location autocomplete endpoint of the Weatherstack API to locate one or more precise locations. It can also be associated with identifying response objects to feed them into a weather data endpoint later.
8. What are the different unit parameters and supported languages?
Most applications don’t stick to a single language. So it is quite useful if the user can get the results in a unit or language they prefer. The Weatherstack API returns all the responses in metric units by default. Additionally, there are some other popular unit formats. You can use the unit argument to swap between multiple unit forms. The temperature is measured in metric, Fahrenheit, and scientific units.
When considering the language, the API can offer results in 40 different languages worldwide. Simply add the language parameter to the API URL as shown in the documentation and specify it as the 2-letter identifier of your chosen language to replace the default value (English).
9. How fast is the API?
The faster an API is, the more reliable it becomes. Therefore, Weatherstack uses a lightweight JSON format to provide weather data. It guarantees the best possible performance, enabling you to use it with any programming language based on your performance requirements.
Also, the uptime of the API is nearly 100% because APIlayer has hosted Weatherstack API on a world-class cloud platform. You can start free and upgrade to a better subscription later. Even the busiest demand spikes will not be a problem as you’ll have enough bandwidth. It is capable of processing billions of queries regularly.
10. What should I do when I need help?
When users get stuck, Weatherstack provides prominent and detailed documentation to help them overcome their problems. You can also consult a professional support team or refer to their FAQs if the documentation is not helpful or you cannot resolve the issue on your own. The Weatherstack documentation even contains code examples in a variety of programming languages.
Does the Weatherstack API offer what you want?
Weatherstack is yet another reliable API from APIlayer. You can integrate it with any application to get reliable data about the weather. It provides both real-time and historical weather data for any location in the world. Furthermore, this API guarantees nearly 100% uptime as it’s hosted on the best cloud infrastructure. You can start freely and test the API and use it later once you are confident about the API.
Try Weatherstack to provide your users with a great experience.
