[api.met.no] Important changes to locationforecast and nowcast

[api.met.no mailing list]

Dear API users,

After several months in beta, Nowcast 2.0 is finally officially launched. 
Both this and Locationforecast have now got a definite date for termination 
of the old versions.


Continuation of XML format
--------------------------

Based on popular feedback we have decided to continue the XML format for 
Locationforecast and Nowcast into the foreseeable future. For this purpose 
we have added a /classic XML variant to Nowcast, which is basically 
identical to the version 0.9 format. This means porting from the old version 
should be much faster than rewriting to use JSON.

To support the XML format in the future, we will extend it to include the 
new symbol codes as introduced in Weathericon 2.0. Please use this instead 
of the numerical codes which are now deprecated. Starting tomorrow the 
symbol elements will look like this:

   <symbol id="PartlyCloud" number="3" code="partlycloudy_day"/>

You can then link this to the partlycloudy_day.png icon which can be 
downloaded in Weathericon 2.0.

Some future additional changes to the XML format are to be expected. Some 
time within the next six months we will remove the following elements from 
the XML format; please don't use them in your clients:

     <temperatureProbability unit="probabilitycode" value="0"/>
     <windProbability unit="probabilitycode" value="0"/>
     <symbolProbability unit="probabilitycode" value="1"/>


Termination of old versions
---------------------------

Now that both products have been finalized, we have decided it is time to 
say goodbye to the old versions, hailing from 2014 and 2016 respectively. On 
*March 1st, 2021 the following products will no longer be available:

- Locationforecast 1.9
- Nowcast 0.9
- Weathericon 1.1

Please update your systems to use the new version if you haven't already. If 
you keep running into 403 Forbidden errors, remember that according to the 
Terms of Service you must identify yourself with a unique User-Agent HTTP 
request header with contact information.


New version of Yr.no
--------------------

As some of you may have noticed, yr.no now points to the new version 
(formerly the mobile site) and the old layout has been moved to retro.yr.no. 
The latter site is expected to be turned off in the summer of 2021; at the 
same time the old Yr API (varsel.xml/forecast.xml) will disappear. By this 
time users must have converted to use Locationforecast/2.0 for continued 
service.

The Yr developers at NRK are working on making a downloadable dump of the 
existings locations database, mapping place names to lat/lon coordinates. 
We'll be back with more information on this once we have something to report.


Minor changes to other products
-------------------------------

*Sigcharts* has gotten a new parameter "validdate" which makes it possible 
to see which day a plot is valid for. This is now included in the available 
list.

*Turbulence* has had some airports removed and Vigra airport added. We have 
also enabled search by ICAO code instead of location name; this will become 
the default search method in the future (which means the links in available 
will use icao instead of location). We recommend updating your clients to 
use this at your earliest convenience.


That's all for now. In a few days the xmas systems freeze will take effect, 
so there will be no more feature changes until the next year. Until then, 
take care and stay safe.

Best regards,

Geir Aalberg
API developer