Weather affects all of us one way or another. Whether you’re planning an adventure trip or you are a business owner, you need to know current and future weather conditions to plan your activities.
But, what’s the best way to get accurate weather forecast data? While there are several ways to get weather information, businesses around the world use a weather forecast API for accurate data. Developers also use weather forecast APIs to access weather data from around the globe in their apps. Most APIs, however, aren’t as accurate as they claim to be. They are also difficult to use. That said, there are well-documented, accurate, and easy-to-use weather APIs like weatherstack.
This article will discuss some of the key points you should keep in mind while choosing a weather forecast API and show you why weatherstack is the best option.
Table of Contents
Does The Weather Forecast API Provide Accurate Data?
Inaccurate weather forecast data can cost you. Unfortunately, not every weather API has the same accuracy. This is because different APIs use different sources to collect their data. As a result, it’s essential to consider the accuracy of each weather forecast API before deciding which to use.
If you’re looking for a reliable weather forecast API that provides accurate and consistent weather data every time, weatherstack is the best option. The weatherstack API uses solid and highly reliable data sources. These include large weather stations and providers in key locations across the globe. In addition, weatherstack is trusted by 75,000+ companies worldwide, including tech giants like Microsoft and Ericsson.
How Often Does The API Refresh Weather Data?
Many weather APIs in the market claim to provide current weather data, but most of the time, the data isn’t as up-to-date as you would expect. However, with an efficient weather API like weatherstack, you can get real-time, up-to-date weather data for any location using the API’s “current” endpoint. Depending on your subscription plan, the weatherstack API also allows you to simultaneously request data for multiple locations.
When you request current weather data, the weatherstack API returns useful information. This includes the observation time (the time when the returned weather data was collected,) temperature, weather description (sunny, cloudy), wind speed, humidity, and more.
Is The API Capable of Returning Detailed Weather Forecast Data?
Some APIs provide weather forecast data up to 7 days ahead. Others return data for up to 12 days. When you’re using weatherstack, however, you get weather forecast data up to 14 days ahead. You can set your preferred number of forecast days. The weatherstack API returns detailed weather forecast data like minimum, maximum, and average temperatures, sun hours, weather descriptions, humidity, visibility, pressure, cloud cover, heat index, dew point, wind chill, and a lot more. The API also returns astronomic weather details, such as sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset.
Does The API Provide Historical Weather Data?
In addition to current weather data and weather forecast data, businesses need to analyze historical weather data. They do this to understand trends, predict demand, and make informed decisions. However, not all weather forecast APIs provide historical weather data. Weatherstack, on the other hand, offers accurate and detailed historical weather data (back to the year 2008). The historical weather data returned by weatherstack include minimum, maximum, and average temperatures, wind speed, wind degree, pressure, humidity, and visibility. Depending on your requirements, you can also request hourly historical data and define intervals.
You can also use the weatherstack API to get historical time-series data. This means you provide the historical start and end dates of your choice, and the API returns the weather data for that period.
How Quickly Does The API Return Data?
Another key factor to consider when choosing a weather API is its response time. Naturally, users expect a weather API to return data within seconds. However, not every API delivers data quickly. If you’re using weatherstack API, however, you can trust it to deliver data in milliseconds. The weatherstack API is powered by an efficient cloud infrastructure. It delivers data in lightweight JSON format to ensure high speed. In addition, the API has an uptime of almost 100%.
Can You Get Weather Data for Any Location Using A Weather Forecast API?
Different APIs cover different locations, so you can’t trust every weather API to return weather data for any location across the globe. However, if you’re using weatherstack API, you can expect to get accurate weather data for almost any location. The API covers millions of cities and towns worldwide to ensure you get global weather data.
Which Programming Languages Does the Weather Forecast API Support?
Different weather APIs support different programming languages. If you’re looking for a weather forecast API that supports all major programming languages, weatherstack is the perfect option. The weatherstack API supports PHP, jQuery, Python, and more.
Is The Weather Forecast API Easy to Use?
This also depends on which weather forecast API you’re using. Some APIs are unstable and have poor design and documentation, making them difficult to use. But there are also APIs like weatherstack that are super easy to use and integrate. The weatherstack API comes with extensive documentation that consists of a step-by-step guide on how to get started with the API. It explains each API event and method in detail. Weatherstack’s documentation also includes coding examples in different programming languages.
If you want to master weatherstack API quickly, check out our guide to the best weather API.
How Much Does A Weather Forecast API Cost?
If you’re using weatherstack, you can use its free plan to test the API features and functionality. You get 250 calls per month and real-time weather data with the free plan. If you want more calls per month and access to more advanced API features, such as historical data, forecast data, and astronomy data, weatherstack offers three paid packages:
Standard ($9.99/month): 50,000 API calls per month, historical, real-time, astronomy, and hour by hour data, plus a few other useful features
Professional ($49.99/month): 300,000 API calls per month, historical, real-time, astronomy, hour by hour and 7-day forecast data, unlimited support, bulk queries, and many other useful features
Business ($99.99/month): 1 million API calls per month, real-time, historical, astronomy, hour by hour and 14-day forecast data, unlimited support, bulk queries, location lookup, and many other useful features
