Weather Forecast Scraper

Scrape weather forecasts from the National Weather Service (NWS) public API. Extract temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction, precipitation chance, and detailed forecast text for any US location using latitude and longitude coordinates.

Features

• Fetch daily or hourly forecasts from the official NWS API
• No API key required (free public government API)
• Support for multiple locations in a single run
• Configurable forecast period up to 14 days
• Extract detailed forecast descriptions with precipitation probabilities
• Clean structured output with data source attribution

Use Cases

Agriculture operations use this actor to schedule planting, irrigation, and harvesting based on multi-day weather forecasts. Event planners monitor precipitation chances to make venue decisions for outdoor events. Construction managers track wind and temperature forecasts to plan safe working conditions. Energy analysts correlate weather patterns with demand forecasts for power grid management.

Input Configuration

Field	Type	Description	Default
locations	string	JSON array of {lat, lon} objects	[{"lat": 33.02, "lon": -96.69}]
forecastType	string	"daily" or "hourly"	"daily"
days	integer	Number of forecast days	7

Output Format

Each result includes: name, temperature, temperatureUnit, windSpeed, windDirection, shortForecast, detailedForecast, humidity, precipitationChance, isDaytime, startTime, endTime, latitude, longitude, dataSource, apiEndpoint, and scrapedAt.

Integration and Export

Results are stored in the Apify dataset and can be exported to JSON, CSV, XML, or Excel. Use the Apify API to integrate weather data into dashboards, alerting systems, or planning tools. Connect with Zapier or Make to trigger automated weather-dependent workflows.

Cost Estimation

This actor uses pay-per-event pricing at $0.30 per 1,000 results. A 7-day daily forecast for one location produces approximately 14 data points (day and night periods). Memory usage ranges from 256 MB to 4096 MB. The NWS API is free and has no rate limits for reasonable usage.

Tips for Best Results

The NWS API covers US locations only. Use latitude and longitude coordinates for precise location targeting. Daily forecasts provide 12-hour periods (day/night), while hourly forecasts give much more granular data. Schedule runs using Apify schedules for daily weather monitoring. For locations outside the US, consider alternative weather data sources.