A Guide to Weather APIs
A weather API is an essential tool for business, here’s why.
According to McKinsey, the cost of extreme weather events is increasing. Accurate, actionable weather forecasts can help businesses better prepare for weather events. They can also help businesses save money and improve operations.
With the popular Dark Sky API shutting down, many businesses are looking for alternatives. But what’s the right choice for you?
To help, we’ve looked at the top weather APIs. Here’s what you need to consider when choosing a weather API for your project or business.
What is a Weather API?
If you need to pull weather forecast data into your software applications a weather API can make it easy. API is the acronym for Application Programming Interface and is a tool that programmers can use in helping them create software, from apps to websites to advanced AI applications. Weather APIs collect, aggregate and process meteorological and other relevant weather data. They also offer software tools for accessing that data. This includes data like:
- Temperature
- Wind Speed
- Precipitation
- Cloud cover
- Visibility
- Humidity
- … and more
With this data you can create updates and alerts in web and mobile apps, enhance the performance of predictive models, or better manage strategic business risks.
How to Choose a Weather API?
Functionality and Scope
A weather API needs to do what you want, in the way that you want it. They need to provide the rights weather variables, over the right time frame at the right location. Weather APIs for business intelligence need to offer real-time actuals and future forecasts. Weather APIs for data science and AI need to offer historic actuals and historic forecasts (hindcasts) for rigorously validating prototype applications.
Compatibility and Ease of Implementation
How easily does the API integrate with the software languages and tools that are most convenient for you. What is the documentation like, does the API offer simple tutorials and guides.
Responsiveness and Reliability
Weather APIs need to be fast and available. An API needs to have reliable uptime and fast response times.
Choosing a Weather API
The weather API that works best for you depends heavily on your goals, preferences, project scope, and budget. Hopefully, this article helps in guiding your final decision. Did we miss something? Let us know in the comments.
Bytehub AI
At Bytehub AI we make it simple for anyone, data scientists, decision makers, analysts and AI experts, to pull in the right weather variable at the right location to predict risk, boost the performance of AI applications, and drive better decisions through visual analytics.
