# NWS Grid Forecast Period Evidence API (`soilair/nws-grid-forecast-period-evidence-api`) Actor

Retrieve bounded US NWS grid forecast periods with units, source times and change snapshots. Selected public weather metadata without alert delivery or coordinate guessing.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/soilair/nws-grid-forecast-period-evidence-api.md
- **Developed by:** [Salih Can Kurnaz](https://apify.com/soilair) (community)
- **Categories:** Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.50 / 1,000 forecast period observations

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## NWS Grid Forecast Period Evidence API

Read selected forecast values for known US grid cells. Each period row includes start/end timestamps, day/night flag, temperature with its source unit, wind text and short forecast. Useful for a weather dashboard or forecast-data QA; this is a bounded dataset request, not an emergency warning or notification system.

At most3 office/grid pairs and14 periods per grid, one api.weather.gov/gridpoints/office/x,y/forecast request each. Grid IDs must come from NWS; the Actor does not convert an address/latitude into a grid or claim global coverage. First source periods are locally capped and truncation makes complete=false. Public source data can be delayed, revised, unavailable or uncertain; quoted forecasts remain forecasts. No radar, personal location, alert subscription, images, background refresh, guarantee of safe conditions or added interpretation. Generated forecast details outside selected fields are not tracked. No unit conversion: Fahrenheit/Celsius stays labelled. Period identity includes grid and forecast start; changed dates produce different identities, and absent periods are not deletion proof. Source Cache-Control is exposed so clients can respect caching.

### Quick start

```json
{"grids": [{"office": "TOP", "x": 31, "y": 80}], "maxPeriodsPerGrid": 2}
```

### Pricing and budget

0.0005 USD per emitted forecast period observation (0.5 USD per1000), plus0.005 USD startup at default256MB. Higher memory can multiply startup events; check effective Store pricing. Failed/empty sources do not emit result charges; startup can still apply. At zero result budget, input validation occurs but no upstream request is sent, and rowsAvailable is null (unknown). A positive budget can request the bounded source set before output; emission stops at the result cap and complete=false/PARTIAL_BUDGET reports truncation.

### Snapshot, integration and limits

Use dataset rows together with OUTPUT and SNAPSHOT. Pass SNAPSHOT.previousHashes as previousHashes in a later run. NO_BASELINE/FIRST_SEEN/UNCHANGED/CHANGED compare only selected metadata including itemKey and sourceUrl; missing records are not deletions. FIRST_SEEN means absent from the supplied baseline. There is no persistent hidden state or automatic polling. Export JSON/CSV/Excel through the default dataset.

API example: POST https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/soilair~nws-grid-forecast-period-evidence-api/runs with your Apify Authorization header and the JSON input above. Poll the returned run; read dataset items and OUTPUT/SNAPSHOT records using its store IDs. Do not place tokens or confidential data in input. No upstream key is needed. Results live in Apify run storage according to retention; no separate analytics service.

Only fixed HTTPS provider endpoints are constructed from validated identifiers. Public-IP DNS validation, pinned connections, TLS hostname verification,2MiB decoded responses, approximately95 seconds of network budget, at most5 same-provider redirects. Official API calls are distinct from website crawling; no arbitrary URLs or HTML pages. No linked documents/files are fetched. Queries are sequential with1-second spacing. Provider403/429 or Retry-After stops later calls; retry instructions are reported and no retry/proxy/circumvention is attempted. Shared IP limits and changes to upstream services can still block runs. Caller must respect provider headers and cache/reduce repeated requests. Text is data and should not be executed.

Developed with AI assistance. Tests and live/cloud comparisons qualify the selected-field contract; they do not prove commercial demand, provider uptime or a legal/license determination. Support: share a run ID and expected fields, without credentials or private material.

References: https://www.weather.gov/documentation/services-web-api

# Actor input Schema

## `grids` (type: `array`):

1..3 objects with office (3 letters), x and y (integers0..999). Obtain actual grid IDs from NWS; this service does not geocode.

## `maxPeriodsPerGrid` (type: `integer`):

First1..14 forecast periods per grid. Local truncation makes complete=false.

## `previousHashes` (type: `object`):

At most500 itemKey/SHA256 mappings; missing records are not deletion evidence.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "grids": [
    {
      "office": "TOP",
      "x": 31,
      "y": 80
    }
  ],
  "maxPeriodsPerGrid": 14,
  "previousHashes": {}
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (type: `string`):

No description

## `snapshot` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "grids": [
        {
            "office": "TOP",
            "x": 31,
            "y": 80
        }
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("soilair/nws-grid-forecast-period-evidence-api").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "grids": [{
            "office": "TOP",
            "x": 31,
            "y": 80,
        }] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("soilair/nws-grid-forecast-period-evidence-api").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "grids": [
    {
      "office": "TOP",
      "x": 31,
      "y": 80
    }
  ]
}' |
apify call soilair/nws-grid-forecast-period-evidence-api --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,soilair/nws-grid-forecast-period-evidence-api"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/MPvZZmQ54b8Fx7pde/builds/wtNhOgwzhSj8frBzI/openapi.json