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Weather Service

Provides scheduled weather forecasts, weather alerts, and lightning detection.

Quick Start

  1. Configure Bot - Edit config.ini:
[Weather_Service]
enabled = true

# Your location (required)
my_position_lat = 47.6062
my_position_lon = -122.3321

# Daily forecast time
weather_alarm = 6:00              # Or "sunrise" / "sunset"

# Channels
weather_channel = #weather
alerts_channel = #weather
  1. Restart Bot - Daily forecasts start automatically

Configuration

Basic Settings

[Weather_Service]
enabled = true
my_position_lat = 47.6062         # Your latitude (required)
my_position_lon = -122.3321       # Your longitude (required)
weather_alarm = 6:00              # Time for daily forecast (HH:MM or sunrise/sunset)
weather_channel = #weather        # Channel for forecasts
alerts_channel = #weather         # Channel for weather alerts

Alert Polling

poll_weather_alerts_interval = 600000  # Check for alerts every 10 minutes (milliseconds)

Rain Nowcast (Proactive)

Automatically posts a heads-up when rain is about to start at your position:

rain_nowcast_enabled = true            # Auto-announce incoming rain (opt-in; default: false)
# rain_channel = #weather              # Defaults to weather_channel
poll_rain_nowcast_interval = 900000    # Check every 15 minutes (milliseconds)
rain_nowcast_lead_minutes = 60         # Only announce if rain starts within 60 min
rain_nowcast_renotify_minutes = 30     # Cooldown between pushes
# rain_nowcast_announce_ending = true  # Also announce when rain is about to stop
# rain_nowcast_threshold_mm = 0.1      # Sensitivity (mm per 15-min bucket)

Posts both a starting heads-up (rain incoming) and, by default, an ending one (rain about to stop):

🌧️ Heads up — Rain starting in ~25min near Nashville, TN
🌧️ Heads up — Rain ending in ~20min near Nashville, TN

Each fires once per rain episode. Set rain_nowcast_announce_ending = false to only announce incoming rain.

Lightning Detection (Optional)

Requires paho-mqtt library.

blitz_collection_interval = 600000     # Aggregate lightning every 10 minutes

# Define detection area (optional)
blitz_area_min_lat = 47.0
blitz_area_min_lon = -123.0
blitz_area_max_lat = 48.0
blitz_area_max_lon = -121.0

Features

Daily Weather Forecast

Sends forecast to weather_channel at configured time:

Example Output: 

🌤️ Daily Weather: Seattle: ☀️Clear 68°F NNE8mph | Tomorrow: 🌧️Light Rain 55-72°F

Data Includes: - Current conditions with emoji - Temperature - Wind speed and direction - Tomorrow's forecast

Scheduling Options: - Fixed time: weather_alarm = 6:00 (24-hour format) - Sunrise: weather_alarm = sunrise - Sunset: weather_alarm = sunset

Rain Nowcast (Proactive)

Watches your position and posts a heads-up to rain_channel (default: weather_channel) when precipitation is about to start, using Open-Meteo's 15-minutely forecast — the same engine as the rain/nowcast command.

Example Output: 

🌧️ Heads up — Rain starting in ~25min near Seattle
🌨️ Heads up — Snow starting in ~40min (steady) near Seattle

How It Works: 1. Polls every poll_rain_nowcast_interval (default 15 min) 2. Announces when rain is expected within rain_nowcast_lead_minutes (default 60) 3. Fires once per rain episode — re-arms only after the forecast clears 4. A rain_nowcast_renotify_minutes cooldown (default 30) absorbs forecast flapping 5. (steady) marks prolonged rain (continues past the look-ahead window)

Works worldwide (no API key). Set rain_nowcast_enabled = false to disable.

Weather Alerts (US Only)

Monitors NOAA weather alerts and posts new alerts to alerts_channel:

Example Output: 

🟡Wind Adv Seattle til 9PM by NWS SEA https://is.gd/abc123

Alert Types: - Warnings (tornado, severe thunderstorm, etc.) - Watches (winter storm, flood, etc.) - Advisories (wind, fog, etc.) - Statements (special weather)

Compact Format: - Severity emoji (🔴🟠🟡⚪) - Event type and location - Expiration time - Issuing office - Shortened URL for details

Lightning Detection (Optional)

Monitors real-time lightning strikes via Blitzortung MQTT:

Example Output: 

🌩️ Bellevue (15km NE)

How It Works: 1. Connects to Blitzortung MQTT broker 2. Filters strikes within configured blitz_area 3. Aggregates strikes every blitz_collection_interval 4. Reports areas with 10+ strikes

Weather Data Source

Uses Open-Meteo API (free, no API key required).

Temperature Units: Inherited from [Weather] section (see Weather command docs): 

[Weather]
temperature_unit = fahrenheit     # fahrenheit or celsius
wind_speed_unit = mph             # mph, ms, kn
precipitation_unit = inch         # inch or mm

Alerts (US Only)

Weather alerts use NOAA API which is US-only. For other countries: - Daily forecasts work worldwide via Open-Meteo - Weather alerts won't be available - Lightning detection works worldwide via Blitzortung

Troubleshooting

Service Not Starting

Check logs: 

tail -f meshcore_bot.log | grep WeatherService

Common issues: - Missing my_position_lat or my_position_lon - Invalid coordinates - enabled = false

No Daily Forecasts

  1. Check alarm time - Service logs "Next forecast at HH:MM:SS"
  2. Check channel - Verify weather_channel exists
  3. Check position - Coordinates must be valid

No Weather Alerts

  1. US only - NOAA alerts only work in the United States
  2. Check polling - Service logs "Starting weather alerts polling"
  3. New alerts only - Only alerts issued since last check are sent

Lightning Not Working

  1. Check dependencies: pip install paho-mqtt
  2. Check area config - All 4 coordinates required (min/max lat/lon)
  3. Check MQTT connection - Service logs "Connected to Blitzortung MQTT"

Advanced

Sunrise/Sunset Forecasts

When using weather_alarm = sunrise or sunset: - Calculates time based on your coordinates - Updates daily for seasonal changes - Uses local timezone automatically

Alert Deduplication

Alerts are tracked by ID to prevent duplicates. The service maintains a list of seen alert IDs and only sends new alerts.

Lightning Strike Bucketing

Strikes are grouped by: - Direction (heading from your location) - Distance (grouped in 10km buckets)

Example: All strikes 50-60km to the NE are counted as one area.

FAQ

Q: Do I need an API key? A: No. Open-Meteo is free and doesn't require an API key.

Q: Can I get alerts for other countries? A: Daily forecasts work worldwide. Weather alerts are currently US-only (NOAA). If you would like added, let me know.

Q: How accurate are the forecasts? A: Open-Meteo uses data from national weather services (NOAA, DWD, etc.). Accuracy varies by location.

Q: Can I change temperature units? A: Yes, set temperature_unit in the [Weather] section (used by wx command too).

Q: Does lightning detection work worldwide? A: Yes. Blitzortung has global coverage.

Q: Why do I need to define a lightning detection area? A: To filter strikes. Without an area, you'd get alerts for the entire globe.