Were you using the Yahoo Weather API and now don’t know what to do? Don’t worry! In this post, we’ll present you with the 3 best options in the market that will help fill that void.
What is an API?
To put it simply an API, which stands for Application Programming Interface, is an interface that facilitates communication between different apps (applications). Generally, when we talk about APIs we are referring to an access point for the public to which we can send a request and that returns data in JSON format for the most part.
What do you use a Weather API for?
For example, in relation to the climate, we can think about the weather widget that comes preinstalled on most smartphones. For it to be able to display updated information daily this widget, that’s nothing more than just a simple app installed on a phone, sends a request to one of the many public weather APIs in existence; and the API sends back the result in a format that the widget can interpret like JSON; then the widget will take care of preparing a user-friendly design to represent the weather.
Yahoo Weather API
Yahoo was a big player in the weather APIs arena until last year when the company turned off the service, leaving many struggling to find an alternative to fill the gap that the retirement of the Yahoo Weather API caused. But, don’t you worry because here we have a list of the best weather APIs in the market to help you fill that void, they might even exceed your expectations of what you thought was possible.
Current Weather and Forecasted Weather API
The Current Weather and Forecasted Weather API is a popular and extremely advanced weather API. This Current weather data API will provide you with both current and forecasted meteorological information. You can receive forecasted data from the next 5 days up to the next 16 days.
The data received is updated at a fast pace, with the 5 days data being updated every 3 hours whilst the 16 days data is updated on a daily basis.
Additionally, you can get as specific as you want in your request for data by location since the Current Weather and Forecasted Weather API has worldwide coverage, which allows you to search by certain cities, towns, zip codes, or even coordinates to get more precise information.
Also, the data received will contain information stemming from the temperature and humidity; all the way to wind speed and visibility, and everything in between.
And, of course, you can choose whether you want to retrieve this data as JSON or as XML.
Weather 20/20
The Weather 20/20 is a complex weather API that allows you to get real-time weather information. As well as forecasted weather based on statistics. Additionally, they specialize in performance weather prediction with a focus on agriculture.
Dark Sky API
Dark Sky API is another weather API that allows you to request data by IP address, zip code, and coordinates. The weather data provided contains information about temperatures, humidity, wind speed, and weather conditions, among others.
You can find more information about weather APIs here.