Swiss-Weather

# SwissWeather

Get current weather measurements and forecasts from MeteoSwiss, the official Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology.

## Why Use This

- **Official Swiss data**: Direct from MeteoSwiss government service - **Real measurements**: 100+ automated weather stations across Switzerland - **No API key required**: Free public data - **Swiss-optimized**: Better coverage and accuracy for Switzerland than generic services - **Comprehensive**: Temperature, humidity, wind, precipitation, pressure, sunshine, radiation

## Quick Start

### Current Weather by Station

Get real-time measurements from a specific Swiss weather station:

**Option 1: Shell script (no dependencies)** ```bash scripts/current_weather_curl.sh --station RAG ```

**Option 2: Python script (requires: pip3 install requests)** ```bash scripts/current_weather.py --station RAG ```

Example output: ``` Station: RAG Time: 2026-01-15 11:40 UTC Temperature (°C)........................ 8.6 Rel. humidity (%)...................... 56.3 Wind speed (km/h)...................... 6.8 Precipitation (mm)..................... 0.0 ```

Popular stations: - **RAG** - Rapperswil (Zurich region) - **BER** - Bern - **ZRH** - Zurich Airport - **BAS** - Basel - **GVE** - Geneva - **LUG** - Lugano

### List All Stations

```bash scripts/current_weather_curl.sh --list # or scripts/current_weather.py --list ```

Returns 100+ Swiss weather stations with codes and last update time.

### Forecast by Postal Code

Get multi-day weather forecast:

```bash scripts/forecast.py 8640 # Rapperswil-Jona scripts/forecast.py 8001 --days 7 # Zurich, 7-day forecast ```

**Note**: The forecast API may occasionally be unstable. If it fails, fall back to current weather measurements.

## Available Data

### Current Weather Measurements

Updated every 10 minutes from automated stations:

- **Temperature** (°C) - Air temperature at 2m height - **Humidity** (%) - Relative humidity - **Wind** - Speed (km/h), direction (°), gust peak - **Precipitation** (mm) - Recent rainfall - **Pressure** (hPa) - Station level, sea level - **Sunshine** (min) - Duration of sunshine - **Radiation** (W/m²) - Global solar radiation - **Dew point** (°C)

### Weather Forecasts

Multi-day forecasts by Swiss postal code:

- Daily temperature (min/max) - Weather conditions with icons - Precipitation amount and probability - Hourly forecasts (when available)

## Station Selection

Choose the nearest station to your location:

- **Major cities**: BER (Bern), ZRH (Zurich), BAS (Basel), GVE (Geneva), LUG (Lugano) - **Zurich region**: KLO (Kloten), RAG (Rapperswil), TAE (Tänikon) - **Central**: LUZ (Lucerne), ALT (Altdorf), ENG (Engelberg) - **Mountains**: SMA (Säntis), JUN (Jungfraujoch), PIL (Pilatus)

**Tip**: Avoid mountain stations for valley locations due to altitude differences.

See `references/api_info.md` for complete station list and details.

## JSON Output

All scripts support `--json` flag for programmatic use:

```bash scripts/current_weather.py --station RAG --json scripts/forecast.py 8640 --json ```

## Advanced Usage

### Multiple Stations

Show all current measurements:

```bash scripts/current_weather.py --all ```

### Find Nearest Station

1. List all stations: `scripts/current_weather.py --list` 2. Identify closest by name/location 3. Use that station code

### Caching

Data updates every 10 minutes. Cache responses appropriately:

```bash # Cache current weather for 5-10 minutes # Cache forecasts for 1-2 hours ```

## API Reference

See `references/api_info.md` for: - Complete API documentation - All available data fields - Weather icon codes - Warning levels and types - Alternative data sources - Technical details

## Dependencies

```bash pip3 install requests ```

## Data Source

- **Provider**: MeteoSwiss (Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology) - **Authority**: Official Swiss government weather service - **Update**: Every 10 minutes (current weather) - **Coverage**: 100+ automated stations across Switzerland - **URL**: https://data.geo.admin.ch / https://www.meteoschweiz.admin.ch

## Troubleshooting

**Forecast API fails**: The MeteoSwiss app API occasionally changes. If `forecast.py` fails, use current weather measurements instead, or check `references/api_info.md` for alternative methods.

**Station not found**: Use `--list` to see available stations. Station codes are 3-letter abbreviations (case-insensitive).

**Missing data**: Some stations don't measure all parameters. Look for `-` or `N/A` in output.

## Related

- **swiss-transport**: Swiss public transport schedules and connections - **weather**: Generic weather service (wttr.in) - use swissweather for Switzerland