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Weather Service

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

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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

2. Restart Bot - Daily forecasts start automatically

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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)

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

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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

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

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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

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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

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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"

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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.

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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.