7Timer Weather Forecast Scraper

7Timer Weather Forecast Scraper

Scrape 7Timer weather forecasts for any latitude and longitude, up to a million rows per run. Every forecast includes temperature, wind, precipitation, cloud cover, and astronomy seeing when you pick the Astro product. No API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

7Timer's public forecast API needs no key, but its raw XML is awkward to parse and its docs assume you already know the product codes. This Actor reads the civil or astro forecast for any coordinates and returns each forecast as one flat row, ready for analysis or a dashboard.

Who uses it	What they scrape 7Timer for
Astrophotographers	Check cloud cover and seeing before driving to a dark-sky site
Event planners	Monitor precipitation risk for outdoor venues over the next week
Weather data analysts	Build a historical archive of forecast accuracy for a set of locations
Researchers	Pull consistent forecast fields for climate or atmospheric studies

What it does

This Actor collects 7Timer weather forecasts by latitude, longitude, and product type, and returns each forecast as a flat row.

• 🌍 Any coordinates: feed one latitude and longitude pair, or run the Actor once per location from a scheduler.
• 📊 Two forecast products: Civil returns general weather; Astro adds seeing, transparency, and other astronomy fields.
• 🔁 Bulk collection: set maxItems up to 1,000,000 to pull a long series of forecasts in one run.
• 📦 Flat output: every forecast is one row with the same schema, so you can append runs without cleaning.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with 7Timer data

🔭 Plan a stargazing session.

An astrophotographer runs the Actor with the Astro product for their site's coordinates and checks cloud cover and seeing before driving out.

📅 Monitor an outdoor event.

An event planner pulls the Civil forecast for the venue every morning and alerts the team if precipitation probability rises.

📈 Track forecast accuracy.

A data analyst collects daily forecasts for a list of cities and later compares them with observed weather to measure model skill.

🧪 Feed a research pipeline.

A researcher uses the Actor to fetch consistent forecast fields for multiple coordinates and stores them in a database for analysis.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key	7Timer's endpoint is public; you only need coordinates
Astronomy fields	The Astro product includes seeing and transparency for stargazing
Flat schema	Every forecast row has the same fields, so you can merge runs
Bulk friendly	Collect up to a million forecasts in a single run

How it compares

No other Store actor targets 7Timer the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

	7Timer Weather Forecast Scraper	Build it in-house	By hand
Setup	Run it now, zero config	Days of engineering	None, but hours per pull
When 7Timer changes	Maintained for you	You fix it	You re-learn the page
Proxies, retries, anti-bot	Built in	Your problem	Browser only
Output	Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export	Whatever you build	Copy-paste
Cost	Pay per result	Engineering time	Analyst hours

Configure the run

Drive the Actor from a latitude, longitude, and product choice, and set maxItems to control how many forecasts are collected per run. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
  "lat": "52.52",
  "lon": "13.405",
  "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
  "lat": "52.52",
  "lon": "13.405",
  "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.005 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$0.50
1,000 results	$5.00
10,000 results	$50.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the 7Timer Weather Forecast Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to 7Timer through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

$claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/seventimer-weather-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Verify your latitude and longitude are valid decimal degrees within range. Also ensure maxItems is at least 1 and the product is set to civil or astro.

The Actor returns an error about invalid coordinates.

Latitude must be between -90 and 90, longitude between -180 and 180. Use a dot as the decimal separator, not a comma.

I need astronomy fields but they are missing.

Set the product to astro. The civil product does not include seeing or transparency.

The run takes too long or times out.

Reduce maxItems. 7Timer may limit the number of forecasts per request, and very large values can slow the run.

Can I get forecasts for a city name instead of coordinates?

No, the Actor requires latitude and longitude. You can use a geocoding service first to convert a city name to coordinates.

FAQ

Question	Answer
What is 7Timer?	7Timer is a free weather forecast service run by the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory. It provides civil weather and astronomy-specific forecasts for any location.
Do I need an API key?	No. 7Timer's forecast endpoint is public. You only need latitude and longitude.
What is the difference between Civil and Astro products?	Civil returns general weather fields like temperature, wind, and precipitation. Astro adds astronomy fields such as seeing and transparency, which are useful for stargazing.
How many forecasts can I get in one run?	You can set maxItems up to 1,000,000. The Actor will collect that many forecasts, though the actual number available depends on 7Timer's data.
What coordinates format should I use?	Decimal degrees, for example 52.52 for Berlin latitude and 13.405 for longitude. The Actor defaults to Berlin if you leave the fields empty.
Can I scrape multiple locations?	Yes. Run the Actor once per location, or use a scheduler with different inputs. Each run returns rows for one coordinate pair.
What output formats are supported?	The Actor exports to CSV, JSON, Excel, and XML, the standard Apify dataset formats.
Does the Actor return historical forecasts?	No. 7Timer provides current and future forecasts. For historical data, you would need to collect forecasts over time and store them yourself.
Is the data free to use?	7Timer's forecasts are free for non-commercial use. Check 7Timer's terms for commercial applications.
What if I get no results?	Check that your latitude and longitude are valid decimal degrees and that maxItems is at least 1. Also confirm the product is set to civil or astro.

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Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by 7Timer! / Shanghai Astronomical Observatory. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.