Found yourself needing a new Weather API?

Recently, Dark Sky shared the news that they have joined Apple; we wish them all the best in their new partnership.

You may have also heard that they are no longer accepting signups to their API service, which will be discontinued at the end of 2021. As companies begin to look for new weather providers, we thought it would be helpful to share some information on our API service!

Forecasts, Observations and Historical Data

We have a suite of APIs available, including:
o             Deterministic, ensemble/probabilistic and monthly weather forecasts
o             Real-time and historical weather measurement data, such as:
o             Weather station observations
o             Rainfall radar
o             Lightning
o             Solar radiation
o             Modelled historical weather data

Smooth Integration

Our data streams can easily be incorporated into your external-facing website and your operational decision support systems. They can also be used for data analysis on behalf of clients. Whatever you want to use it for, our IT team can ensure your new weather API is up and running as quickly as possible.

Developed and Used by Our Meteorologists

Our weather forecast API has been developed in-house by our team our research meteorologists and was designed with our operational forecasters in mind. Our meteorologists use the data into our API daily to help them provide the highest quality and most accurate forecast possible.

Our forecast methodology is multi-layered but also relatively simple. We source our forecast data from well-performing global and high-resolution regional models, including our own Weather Research & Forecasting (WRF) model, built and run in-house.

This forecast data is used to create a “multi-model blend” dataset.

Post-processing algorithms are then used site-by-site to increase the forecast accuracy based on known (and calculated) model biases from similar past weather events. In the immediate short-term, nowcasting techniques are also adopted to take the current weather situation (such as radar and the latest observations from weather stations) to project forwards over the next few hours. This means that our API feed is being constantly updated to give you the most accurate forecast possible.

Finally, our philosophy since Weatherquest was founded is always to allow our meteorologists to have the final say in any forecast. So we are passionate about always retaining the ability for forecaster intervention – meaning every forecast you receive will have been examined by a qualified meteorologist, and adjustments made where necessary.

Unique and Interesting Parameters

We offer all the standard variables you would expect to receive in a weather API, including temperature, rainfall, wind and pressure. However, we can also include a range of specialist variables developed by our team.

For the agricultural industry, Spraying Index and Drying Index are beneficial when planning fieldwork, and Growing Degree Hours provide a valuable measure of crop development. We also offer Road State and Ground Icing – vital parameters for winter gritting, as well as a variety of variables for offshore energy, including wave information, hub-height wind speeds and gusts and lightning risk.

These are just a handful of the parameters that Weatherquest offer if you’d like to find out more, email info@weatherquest.co.uk.