Frequently Asked Questions

In order to use our services, you need to get and use your personal API key in all your API requests. How to do it:

1. Sign up and get an API key (APPID) on your account page.
2. Verify your email address via a confirmation letter that will be sent to you. 1 hour after registering, it is possible to resend the confirmation yourself in the profile settings.
3. After verification, check your Inbox again to find our welcome email that contains your API key and important information.

Congratulations! Now you have a Free OpenWeather account and can start using our services. We highly recommend you to read the API documentation that explains how to use our APIs.

For each point on the globe, OpenWeather provides hyperlocal minutely forecast, historical data, current state, and from short-term to annual and forecasted weather data. All data is available via industry standard APIs.

One Call API by call:

Make just one API call and get all your essential weather data for a specific location with One Call API 3.0.

• Current weather
• Minute forecast for 1 hour
• Hourly forecast for 48 hours
• Daily forecast for 8 days
• National weather alerts
• Weather data for 45+ years history archive and 4 days ahead forecast by timestamp
• Daily aggregated weather data for 45+ years historical archive and 1,5 year forecast ahead
• Weather overview with a human-readable weather summary for today and tomorrow's forecast, utilizing OpenWeather AI technologies

For more functionality, please consider our generous professional subscriptions.

Professional collections:

Current Weather and Forecasts Collection

How to get:

• APIs (you can request data for geographic coordinates, ZIP codes, city name, city ID, number of cities)
• Bulk Download (download already collected and regularly updated data for a list of global locations; available for premium subscriptions)

Historical Weather Collection

How to get:

• On-the-fly bulks for customised lists of coordinates
• Marketplace of prepared data sets (coordinates, cities, zip codes) - History Bulk (45+ years back), History Forecast Bulk (from 7 Oct 2017)
• APIs to a timestamp / a period (subscriptions with different limits on calls and depth of archive)

Specialised products:

• Solar Irradiance API
• Solar Panels Energy Prediction
• Global Weather Alerts
• Road Risk API
• Global Precipitation Maps - Forecast and historical data
• Weather Maps 2.0 with 1-hour step

Detailed information about all our products can be found on the Pricing page.

Your API key will be activated automatically, up to 2 hours after your successful registration. We invite you to read the API documentation that explains how to use our APIs.

To authorise a request from you and process it, we require you to use your unique API key in each API call.

In order to do this, add your API key as an appid parameter to the GET request, like in the following example:

Just use your API key instead of “YOUR_API_KEY” with your personal API key, it can be found in your personal account on the “API keys” page. You can also create additional API keys there.

Your API key can be found in your personal account on the “API keys” page. You can always create additional API keys there.

You can create as many keys as you like. The total number of API calls for your account is counted based on all of your API keys together - please note this when choosing a subscription as they have various limits on API calls that can be made per day/per minute.

More information about subscription limits can be found on the Pricing page.

You can delete unnecessary API keys but please note that your account with us should have at least 1 API key at any time.

To find your API key, go to your personal account and click the “API keys” tab

When you have more than 1 registered API key, there will be an option to delete an API key.

The frequency of weather data updates depends on your subscription. Please find more information on our “Detailed pricing” page, the “Weather API data update” part.

The Professional API collections include several products in each subscription plan. Unlike the "Pay as you Call" subscription type, professional subscriptions have a fix price per month and API call limits (number of API calls per minute and number of API calls per month).

The Professional API collections contain access to weather historical data, current and various forecasts. These collections also allow users to request weather maps and get weather data not only via API, but with other instruments.

It is easy and takes a couple of steps.

First, please create your account by signing up with your email and find API keys in the ‘API keys’ tab.

On the Pricing page, choose a proper subscription, click 'Subscribe'. Fill out a short billing form, check the details and complete your subscription. You can also subscribe from the settings page in the ‘Billing plans’ section.

For bank transfer or any other individual conditions, please contact our team.

Before you subscribe to our service, please read Terms and conditions of sale, Privacy policy, and Websites terms and conditions of use.

We offer historical weather data for any location for 45+ years back (since 1st January 1979). You can find more information about specific products in the Historical Weather Collection section of our “Pricing” page.

The Historical Weather Collection provides access to 45+ years of historical data - please see our Pricing page.

The structure of our Pricing is quite simple.

The Current Weather and Forecasts Collection provides access to a range of products such as current weather, forecasts, short-term historical data, weather maps and other products.

We provide a completely Free plan. If its functionality is not enough for the size of your applications, we suggest a variety of subscriptions with ability to call APIs more intensively, higher availability of service (up to 99.9%) and premium level of support.

The Historical Weather Collection provides access to up 45+ years’ worth of detailed historical weather data for any location. You can request data via APIs or by a one-time export of historical data for a list of locations.

If you need an advice on choosing the correct subscription, please contact our team for assistance.

Yes, we support the annual/biannual and other options. Please contact our team for details.

The number of API calls you are allowed to make depends on the subscription you choose.

For any professional subscription you should to maintain your usage below both per-minute and per-month limits.

For Free plan

We will notify you and ask you to either migrate to a subscription plan that meets your needs or reduce a number of API calls accordingly. We expect you to take one or another action to avoid suspending of your account.

For users with paid plans

We always contact you to find a suitable solution for you.

For monthly recurring payments

You will be charged a fixed monthly fee based on the subscription plan you select on the “Pricing” page. In this case, the fee will be taken from your payment card. In your first month, you will be charged immediately after subscribing. The next payment will be a month later, and so on. The fee is subject to change, but we always notify you beforehand.

You can subscribe here.

For long-term subscriptions via manual invoicing

In case of manual invoicing, the payment process is discussed personally with each customer.

If you want to set up a long-term subscription, please contact our support team.

We have a rich experience of cooperation with corporate customers providing them with an individual approach and personalised service. We are ready to discuss and estimate any customisations. It is possible for the Enterprise license holders. For more details, please contact us.

If you would like to unsubscribe, please log in to your account on our website, then use the “Unsubscribe” button opposite your active plan in your personal account. After cancellation your subscription will still remain active until the end of the month for which you have paid.

If you pay by manual invoicing and would like to cancel your subscription, please contact our support team.

We accept payments by credit or debit cards as well as payments made via bank transfer. You can pay with most of credit or debit card such as Visa®, MasterCard®, Union Pay®, American Express®, ApplePay®, GooglePay®, Link via Stripe®, Wechat®, Alipay+, Revolut Pay®. We accept bank transfer payments for premium accounts - Professional and Enterprise - and for long-term subscriptions. You can choose the way of payment in the subscription process.

We do not accept cash or check payments.

All transactions made on the OpenWeather website are secure. We use HTTPS secure protocol over the website. We do not collect, store or process any of your payment details.

You can find invoices and transaction history in the 'Payments' section of your settings.

Note that you need to add your company information in the 'Invoice info' tab in your personal account.

For bank transfer payments, our support team send invoices directly to your email. You can always contact us if you have any questions.

After receiving your payment, your API key will get activated and you will receive a confirmation email with API endpoints and guides.

Please note that you can upgrade or downgrade only one of the professional subscriptions.

If you pay by monthly recurring payments (via payment card):

Please log in to your account on our website, then use the “Subscribe” button underneath the desired plan in your personal account.

You will be charged immediately when you upgrade or downgrade your subscription. Note, that for your automatic subscription there is no any recalculation of payment that has already been done. To avoid double payment, we recommend you to change your subscription plan at the end of the month for which you have paid.

For example, if you have a Startup subscription and your billing payment date is the 15th day of each month, we would recommend to upgrade/downgrade your subscription on the 14th.

If you pay by manual invoice

You can сhange your subscription plan by contacting us.

If you would like to update your payment card details, please sign in and use this link: https://home.openweathermap.org/subscriptions/customer_portal.

If you want to switch the payment method (i.e from payment card to Wire transfer), please contact us for assistance and specify your account email.

Please sign in and use this link: https://home.openweathermap.org/invoice_info.

If you have subscribed via our website and are paying for your monthly subscription automatically, our system will make several attempts (up to 4) to charge your payment card. These attempts will happen with a minimum of 1-day difference between each charging attempt.

In case we are not able to charge you after the final attempt, your subscription will be cancelled automatically, and your account will be suspended.

You have to contact us for help if your account was suspended.

Your password can be changed in the “My profile/User settings” section of our website.

You can reset your password on the “Sign in” page of our website by following the link after the question “Lost your password?” or by clicking "Change password" button at the "User settings" chapter at the "My profile" section of "Personal account" page.

Yes, we can change your account email. Please send us you current email, new email, and your API key.

Yes, we can change your country. Please send us the country you need to change to.

Our blocking system suspends your account for a couple of hours to several days randomly. If you want to be unlocked immediately, please subscribe to our paid subscriptions.

For professional subscriptions we do not provide statistics on how many calls the user is making to our APIs. The best way to find how many calls you are making is to add counters on your end, so it could tell you the exact amount of how many times you have sent your request to the API.

For "Pay as you call" subscription plan you can find the statistics of calls usage on the "View usage statistics" button at the "Billing plan" tab in your Personal account.

You can always delete your account in the “My profile/Privacy centre” section of your settings.

Yes, you can. Please see our pricing page for more details.

For the plans between Free and Professional, the attribution requirement is obligatory. When it is required by your license you should place the following information in the visible part of your solution:

• ‘Weather data provided by OpenWeather’
• Hyperlink to our website https://openweathermap.org/
• OpenWeather logo. We provide a library of different styles to match your application design. You can download them here.

If you have any doubts about your specific scenario, please reach out to our support team and we will be glad to advise.

In the Current Weather API and Hourly Forecast API:

As it is a current weather data that reflect weather conditions only for the current moment, we add optional statistical parameters the temp_min and temp_max fields to show dispersion of temperature at this current moment. This is the minimum/maximum currently observed temperature or forecast temperature (within large megalopolises and urban areas).

In the 16-Day Forecast API and 30-Day Forecast

The list.temp.min and list.temp.max fields are minimum/maximum daily temperature, and show the minimum and maximum temperatures in the day.

OpenWeather uses Unix time and the UTC/GMT time zone for all API calls, including current weather, forecast and historical weather data. The timezone_offset parameter shows the shift in seconds from UTC. In the One Call API 3.0 response, there is also a timezone parameter that shows the time zone name for the requested location.

If you do not see some of the parameters in your API response, it means that these weather phenomena just have not happened for the selected location at the time of measurement. Only actually measured or calculated data is displayed in an API response.

The JSON format is used by default. To get data in the XML or HTML format, just use “xml” or “html” for the mode parameter. The HTML format is available for Current Weather API only. For the One Call API 3.0, data is only available in the JSON format. If the mode parameter is omitted, the format is JSON by default.

Examples of API calls:

• JSON: api.openweathermap.org/data/2.5/weather?q=London&{YOUR_API_KEY}
• XML: api.openweathermap.org/data/2.5/weather?q=London&mode=xml&{YOUR_API_KEY}
• HTML: api.openweathermap.org/data/2.5/weather?q=London&mode=html&{YOUR_API_KEY}

Temperature is available in Fahrenheit, Celsius and Kelvin units. Kelvin is used by default, with no need to use the units parameter in API calls.

For temperature in Fahrenheit, use "units=imperial".

For temperature in Celsius, use "units=metric".

You can find examples of API calls in the documentation for the service you are interested in.

A full list of all API parameters, with units, can be found here.

A list of weather condition codes with icons (range of thunderstorm, drizzle, rain, snow, clouds, atmosphere including extreme conditions such as tornado or hurricane) can be found here.

You are free to use these icons in your own solutions.

Requesting API calls by geographical coordinates is the most accurate way to specify any location. If you need to convert city names and zip-codes to geo coordinates and the other way around automatically, please use our Geocoding API.

However, some of our APIs support in-built geocoding, which allows users to call weather data by city name, city ID and Zip-code. If the chosen API supports built-in geocoding, then you will find the "Buil-it geocoding" section in the API documentation.

For current and forecast products (Current API, Hourly Forecast API, Daily Forecast for 16 days, Climatic forecast for 30 days, 5 day/3 hour forecast data) can be downloaded here.

Please note that you can also make requests to our APIs by using coordinates, ZIP codes, etc. Please refer to documentation of specific API to see all available options.

Polar day and polar night are natural phenomenons which occur when day and night respectively lasts more than 24 hours and observed for the northernmost and southernmost regions of Earth. During polar day and polar night time of sunset and sunrise are coincide.
So, if sunset and sunrise time for specified location are the same:

• Polar day will be observed for locations in North hemisphere from March till September and for locations in South hemisphere from September till March
• Polar night will be observed for locations in North hemisphere from September till March and for locations in South hemisphere from March till September

Open Weather maps are tile maps. Tile map or tile web map is a map which image consists of put together from a number of smaller images - tiles, that are draw next to each other, without seams, to create one a much larger image.

For convenience it is assumed that at zoom level 0, an entire Mercator projection of the Earth is contained in one tile with a shape of 256x256 pixels. For each further zoom level all tiles of previous zoom level is divided into 4 parts. This leads to the spatial resolution (ground meters per pixel) of each tile roughly doubles and the number of tiles increases by a factor of four. For example, at zoom level 1, the map consists of 4 tiles with a shape of 256x256 pixels, resulting in an image with a total shape of 512x512 pixels. At any given zoom level, a specific tile can be identified by Cartesian coordinates with 0,0 starting in the top left of the map with the X coordinate values increasing from west to east and Y coordinate values increasing from north to south.

You could find more detailed information about tile maps here.

The following table provides an indication of zoom levels, possible X, Y tile coordinate numbers, the quantity of tiles at each zoom level, and the scale of each level.

You can get the error 401 in the following cases:

• You did not specify your API key in API request.
• Your API key is not activated yet. Within the next couple of hours, it will be activated and ready to use.
• You are using wrong API key in API request. Please, check your right API key in personal account.
• You are using a Free subscription and try requesting data available in other subscriptions . For example, 16 days/daily forecast API, any historical weather data, Weather maps 2.0, etc). Please, check your subscription in your personal account.

You can get this error when you specified the wrong city name, ZIP-code or city ID. For your reference, this list contains City name, City ID, Geographical coordinates of the city (lon, lat), Zoom, etc.

You can also get the error 404 if the format of your API request is incorrect. In this case, please review it and check for any mistakes. To see examples of correct API requests, please visit the Documentation of a specific API and read the examples of API calls there.

You can recieve this error in the following cases:

• If you have a Free plan of Professional subscriptions and make more than 60 API calls per minute (surpassing the limit of your subscription). To avoid this situation, please consider upgrading to a subscription plan that meets your needs or reduce the number of API calls in accordance with the limits.

In case you receive one of the following errors 500, 502, 503 or 504 please contact us for assistance. Please enclose an example of your API request that receives this error into your email to let us analyze it and find a solution for you promptly.