=== NWS Sidebar Forecast === ver.1.0.1

Version: 1.0.1

=== NWS Sidebar Forecast === ver.1.0.1 screenshot

nws-forecast-1.0.1.zip — 9 KB

Downloads: 2

NWS Sidebar Forecast

Version 1.0.1 | By John Martin | GPL v2 or later

NWS Sidebar Forecast displays a configurable National Weather Service (NWS) forecast, current conditions, forecast periods, weather icons, precipitation probability, wind information, and the latest NWS Area Forecast Discussion in WordPress.

Important: The forecast location is configured by the WordPress administrator. The plugin does not use the visitor's browser location. Every visitor sees the forecast for the location configured by the site administrator.

Features

Administrator-configured forecast location.
City, state, ZIP code, latitude, and longitude settings.
Current conditions.
4 to 14 forecast periods.
NWS weather icons and descriptions.
Probability of precipitation.
Wind speed and direction.
Imperial or Metric units.
Latest NWS Area Forecast Discussion.
Horizontal forecast display.
Configurable sidebar title.
Optional Current Conditions section.
Optional Forecast Discussion section.
Configurable server-side cache from 5 to 60 minutes.
WordPress sidebar widget.
Shortcode support.
No visitor geolocation.

Installation

Upload nws-forcast-1.0.1.zip through WordPress → Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin.
Activate NWS Sidebar Forecast.
Go to Settings → NWS Sidebar Forecast.
Configure the forecast location and display options.
Add the forecast using the WordPress widget or shortcode.

Settings

Location

Configure the City, State, ZIP Code, Latitude, and Longitude.

Latitude and longitude are used for the NWS point/grid lookup. Changing the coordinates changes the weather location retrieved from the NWS API. City, State, and ZIP are used for the displayed location label.

Sidebar Title

Sets the title displayed above the forecast.

Forecast Periods

Controls how many NWS forecast periods are displayed. The available range is 4 through 14 periods.

Units

Choose between Imperial and Metric units.

Imperial: Temperature in °F and wind in mph.
Metric: Temperature in °C and wind in km/h.

Current Conditions

Enable or disable the Current Conditions section.

Forecast Discussion

Enable or disable the latest NWS Area Forecast Discussion (AFD) for the forecast office serving the configured coordinates.

Cache Minutes

Controls server-side caching of NWS responses. The setting supports 5 through 60 minutes. Caching helps reduce repeated requests to the NWS API.

Shortcode

You can display the forecast anywhere that supports WordPress shortcodes by using:

[nws_sidebar_forecast]

This shortcode can be placed in:

WordPress pages
WordPress posts
Shortcode blocks
Widget areas that support shortcodes

Forecast Location Behavior

The forecast is site-wide. For example, if the administrator configures Jonesboro, Arkansas, visitors in other states will still see the Jonesboro forecast.

The visitor's browser location is never used by this plugin.

NWS Data

Weather data is retrieved from the official National Weather Service API: https://api.weather.gov/

The plugin uses the configured latitude and longitude to determine the appropriate NWS forecast grid and forecast office. No NWS API key is required for the standard weather.gov API.

Forecast Discussion

The plugin retrieves the latest NWS Area Forecast Discussion associated with the configured forecast office. Common WMO/product control lines and section separators are cleaned from the displayed discussion to make it easier to read.

The discussion remains NWS-produced content and may contain technical meteorological terminology.

Troubleshooting

Forecast temporarily unavailable

Check that the WordPress server can make outbound HTTPS requests and reach api.weather.gov. Also verify that the configured latitude and longitude are valid.

Wrong forecast location

Check the Latitude and Longitude settings. The NWS forecast is determined from those coordinates.

Data appears delayed

Check the Cache Minutes setting. Cached responses are used to reduce repeated API requests.

Temperature or wind looks wrong

Check the Units setting. Imperial uses °F and mph, while Metric uses °C and km/h.

Privacy

The plugin does not use visitor browser geolocation. Weather requests are made by the WordPress server for the administrator-configured location.

Credits

Weather data is provided by the National Weather Service (NWS).

NWS API: https://api.weather.gov/

License

This plugin is released under the GNU General Public License, version 2 or later.

GNU GPL v2 License

Disclaimer

Weather information can change rapidly. This plugin is provided for informational purposes. For severe weather, emergencies, travel decisions, and other safety-critical situations, consult official National Weather Service information and other appropriate official sources.