Wx Status Blog
This blog will be updated whenever I become aware of issues affecting normal operation of Wx.
Craig Hunter, Developer
Friday Nov 10 2023 6:55AM EST
The NWS server providing current conditions data is not responding. I have reported the issue to the NWS Operations Center.
Friday Sept 22 2023 1:55PM EST
NWS server database issues have been resolved. Anybody want to place a bet it will happen again next week?
Thursday Sept 21 2023 8:55AM EST
The NWS is once again experiencing server database issues that are causing a combination of corrupted data, stale data, or no data to be returned when Wx makes a request for forecast data. I have reported the problem.
Friday Sept 15 2023 11:45AM EST
The NWS forecast feed has returned to normal operation and Wx is now picking up valid data for point and pro forecasts.
Wednesday Sept 13 2023 7:05PM EST
The NWS is experiencing server database issues that are causing a combination of corrupted data, stale data, or no data to be returned when Wx makes a request for forecast data. They are aware of the issue and are actively working the problem. Once the issue is resolved on the server, Wx will resume normal operation. This affects the point and pro forecasts in Mac, iPhone, and iPad versions of Wx. The text forecast is not affected and all other functions in Wx are operating normally.
Saturday Aug 26 2023 8:05PM EST
I have submitted Wx 7.1.6 to Apple Review for publication on the Mac App Store. This version updates radar functionality in Wx for Mac to address changes implemented by the NWS. Hopefully this version of Wx will be available within a couple days.
I have also sent the following e-mail to the NWS (nws.radarfeedback@noaa.gov) in reference to their removal of the storm-relative velocity product:
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Hello,
I am writing with feedback on the recent NWS changes to radar discussed in Service Change Notice 23-61. Since 2003, I have developed weather software used by tens of thousands of customers in the US, on desktop and mobile platforms. This software leverages free data and products offered by the NWS and NOAA. Many of my customers are weather watchers or live in remote areas of the US where good weather information is critical. We are all appreciative of the services offered by the NWS and NOAA.
One recent change I am very concerned about is the removal of the storm-relative velocity product from your radar data. This radar product has proven useful in identifying areas of rotation within fast moving storms capable of tornado formation. While we still have the base velocity product, there are many scenarios where base velocity cannot identify these phenomena effectively, and the storm-relative velocity product is vastly superior. Even novice weather watchers can be taught to identify these critical areas of rotation very easily with storm-relative velocity.
All of this is stated very elegantly on your own Jetstream educational site here:
https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/velocity
I encourage you to review this information and remind yourself how important storm-relative velocity can be. My own customers have told me many times how they were able to use storm-relative velocity to spot tornado formation before public alerts were issued, saving valuable time. I consider removal of the storm-relative velocity product to be a public safety issue, and strongly encourage you to again make it available. This product can save lives and property by giving users advance warning.
thank you,
Dr. Craig Hunter
--
Hunter Research and Technology LLC
http://hrtapps.com
craig.hunter@hrtapps.com
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Friday Aug 25 2023 11:05PM EST
The NWS has discontinued support for numerous radar products, resulting in missing radar data in Wx for Mac (iPhone/iPad versions are not affected). I am assessing the situation and will update Wx over the next couple days. There will be a significant reduction in radar capability and I am planning to send feedback to the NWS, as these changes create potential public safety issues.
Sunday Aug 14 2022 1:05PM EST
The NWS current conditions feed is delivering stale data. I have reported the issue and opened a ticket with the NWS.
Wednesday Apr 27 2022 4:35PM EST
The NWS XML forecast feeds appear to be working again, though I have not received confirmation through the NWS ticketing system. But at the moment, everything is operational within Wx.
Wednesday Apr 27 2022 2:10PM EST
Update from the NWS:
SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST NWS ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE
NWS NCEP CENTRAL OPERATIONS COLLEGE PARK MD
1605Z WED APR 27 2022
...WIDESPREAD INTERNET OUTAGE - UPDATE...
NCO network engineers finished up a portion of the maintenance,
but it did not have the expected results. NCEP Centers and WFOs
are still seeing widespread internet issues (websites are slow to
load or not loading at all). NCO continues to investigate.
Gerhardt/SDM/NCO/NCEP
Wednesday Apr 27 2022 1:35PM EST
The NWS XML forecast feeds are delivering stale data or no data, affecting the point and pro forecasts in Wx. I have reported the issue to the NWS.
Tuesday Nov 30 2021 21:24Z
Update from the NWS:
SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST NWS ALERT ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE
NWS NCEP CENTRAL OPERATIONS COLLEGE PARK MD
2124Z TUE NOV 30 2021
...XML FEED OF CURRENT WEATHER OBSERVATIONS - RESTORED...
The earlier problem with the XML feed of current weather
observations not updating has been resolved.
Gerhardt/SDM/NCO/NCEP
Friday Nov 26 2021 17:00Z
Update from the NWS:
SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST NWS ALERT ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE
NWS NCEP CENTRAL OPERATIONS COLLEGE PARK MD
1700Z FRI NOV 26 2021
...CONTINUED - W1.WEATHER.GOV XML OBS NOT UPDATING...
The XML current observations feed remains down on w1.weather.gov.
A ticket is open with the Dev Org on this issue. The feed will
likely be down until Monday 11/29 when it can be fully
investigated by the Dev Org.
Shirey/SDM/NCO/NCEP
Tuesday Nov 23 2021 6:40PM EST
The NWS current conditions feed is delivering stale data for all weather sites across the USA, resulting in old weather observation data being displayed in Wx (all other data types are operational, including forecasts, alerts, and radar). I have reported the issue to the NWS.
Friday Jan 1 2021 5:04PM EST
Wx for iPhone 3.1.3 and Wx for iPad 3.1.3 are now available on the App Store. These new versions restore radar functionality after the NWS changed their radar framework in late December 2020 and broke the previous implementation. In addition, the NWS has discontinued some of the previously available radar mosaic maps, so those have been removed from the app (users should manually delete old maps from their list). New mosaics are available for CONUS, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the Caribbean, and can be added using the "Add Map..." button at the bottom of your location/map list.
Thursday Dec 21 2020 6:04PM EST
Wx for iPhone 3.1.3 and Wx for iPad 3.1.3 have been submitted to Apple for review. These should be available within 2-3 days pending review. These new versions restore radar functionality after the NWS changed their radar framework in late December 2020 and broke the previous implementation. In addition, the NWS has discontinued some of the previously available radar mosaic maps, so those have been removed from the app (users should manually delete old maps from their list). New mosaics are available for CONUS, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the Caribbean, and can be added using the "Add Map..." button at the bottom of your location/map list.
Tuesday Dec 29 2020 8:43AM EST
Wx for Mac 7.1.2 is now available on the Mac App Store. This version restores radar functionality after the NWS changed their radar framework in late December 2020 and broke the previous implementation. Nine radar modes are available including High Res Base Reflectivity, Composite Reflectivity, Digital Differential Reflectivity, High Res Base Radial Velocity, Storm Relative Radial Velocity, One Hour Precipitation, Storm Total Precipitation, Precipitation Type, and Enhanced Echo Tops. The NWS has discontinued radar mosaic maps, so those have been removed from the app (users should manually delete old maps from their settings).
Fixes are underway for Wx for iPhone and Wx for iPad, and I expect they will be available in the next 2-3 days.
Monday Dec 28 2020 9:53PM EST
Wx for Mac 7.1.2 has been submitted to Apple for review. This version restores radar functionality after the NWS changed their radar framework in late December 2020 and broke the previous implementation. Nine radar modes are available including High Res Base Reflectivity, Composite Reflectivity, Digital Differential Reflectivity, High Res Base Radial Velocity, Storm Relative Radial Velocity, One Hour Precipitation, Storm Total Precipitation, Precipitation Type, and Enhanced Echo Tops. The NWS has discontinued radar mosaic maps, so those have been removed from the app (users should manually delete old maps from their settings).
Wednesday Dec 23 2020 6:35PM EST
I have made good progress restoring radar capability to Wx for Mac. The new NWS radar framework has some nice improvements, however download performance is terrible so I am keeping things simple to start. I hope to have this finished up in time to submit to Apple when the App Store review program starts back up on December 28 (they close for the holidays from Dec 23-27) and we should hopefully see it available by the end of December. I will work on Wx for iPhone and iPad after that.
Saturday Dec 19 2020 8:45AM EST
The NWS has transitioned to a new radar framework and all current radar products in the Mac, iPhone, and iPad versions of Wx are no longer operational. Unfortunately, the new NWS radar framework has such slow download performance (to the point of being unusable) that I am not willing to release it in Wx at this time. In addition, the NWS seems to have broken the old framework that was to remain in place to allow compatibility with existing services. I will continue to work on this issue and hope to resolve it by early January.
Wednesday Sept 9 2020 6:45PM EDT
NWS server and data issues appear to be resolved and Wx is operating normally again.
Wednesday Sept 9 2020 4:35PM EDT
It appears that the NWS is now sending out corrupt forecast data, and it is causing Wx to crash when it tries to validate the data file (which normally helps to avoid these issues). Until the NWS resolves the issue on their end, not much we can do but wait. I will post back here as I learn more.
Wednesday Sept 9 2020 11:55AM EDT
Server issues at the NWS are affecting the point and pro forecasts in Wx. Text forecasts and other features are unaffected. Wx will resume normal operation once the issues are resolved at the NWS.
Wednesday Aug 19 2020 2:55PM EDT
There are major server issues at the NWS affecting the point and pro forecasts in Wx. Text forecasts and other features are unaffected. The NWS has not provided a timeline for fixing this. Wx will resume normal operation once the issues are resolved at the NWS.
Thursday Feb 19 2015 2:55PM EDT
Some time periods (Friday, Friday night, Saturday) are missing in the graphical point forecast. Upon examination, the NWS XML feed has empty data for these periods, so Wx is gracefully handling the problem by skipping over those time slots. I have reported this issue to the NWS.
Saturday May 23 2015 7:05PM EDT
The NWS has moved some of the maps used in Wx without proper redirects. In the Mac version of Wx, this can be corrected by editing the map URL and replacing "hcp" in the server name with "wcp". For example, the National Forecast map changes from:
http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/noaa/national_forecast.jpg
to:
http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/noaa/national_forecast.jpg
On iPhone an iPad versions of Wx (which do not let you edit maps) you can create a new custom map using the revised URL.
Sunday Apr 6 2014 8:49PM EDT
Wx for iPhone 2.0 has been submitted to Apple for review. This version of Wx pulls text forecast data from an alternate source, after the NWS broke the old data format during server upgrades in mid March (see March 14 entry below). It also contains a new iOS 7 interface and many other tweaks. Wx for iPad 2.0.1 has also been submitted. It contains interface tweaks and a slider to control the interface brightness level.
Sunday Apr 6 2014 8:49PM EDT
Wx for iPad 2.0 is available from the iTunes App Store. This version of Wx pulls text forecast data from an alternate source, after the NWS broke the old data format during server upgrades in mid March (see March 14 entry below). The Wx for iPhone update is in progress.
Thursday Apr 3 2014 7:49PM EDT
Wx for Mac 6.2.1 is now available from the Mac App Store. This version of Wx pulls text forecast data from an alternate source, after the NWS broke the old data format during server upgrades in mid March (see March 14 entry below). Wx for iPad 2.0 has been submitted to Apple for review. Wx for iPhone is next on the list.
Tuesday Apr 1 2014 3:49PM EDT
Wx for Mac 6.2.1 has been submitted to Apple for review. This version of Wx pulls text forecast data from an alternate source, after the NWS broke the old data format during server upgrades in mid March (see March 14 entry below). iPad and iPhone updates are in progress.
Friday Mar 28 2014 11:39AM EDT
The NWS has been unable to restore the XML text forecast feed they broke two weeks ago in a server update (see March 14 entry below). I will modify Wx to pull text forecasts from another source. I hope to have the coding done by early next week, and will submit Mac, iPhone, and iPad updates to Apple for review.
Friday Mar 21 2014 12:00PM EDT
The NWS is aware of the problem with text forecast data, which resulted from updates to their website breaking input URL formats used to request data (see March 14 entry below). They are looking into the problem, but no fix has been made yet.
Friday Mar 14 2014 12:59PM EDT
The NWS servers are experiencing technical difficulties, which is causing stale forecast data to show up in Wx, and missing text forecasts for some users. If the NWS is able to fix this on their end, Wx resume normal operation. If not, we will release software updates as soon as possible (subject to Apple app review scheduling).
Sunday Nov 17 2013 08:29PM EDT
The NWS servers are experiencing technical difficulties, which is preventing Wx from retreiving data. Once the NWS fixes the problems on their end, Wx will resume normal operation.
Friday Aug 16 2013 09:55AM EST
The NWS server is down for certain regions and products. Right now it's only affecting the graphical forecast in Wx. You can switch to the text forecast or pro forecast as backup until the NWS fixes their problems.
Wednesday Feb 20 2013 09:45PM EST
The NWS forecast server is giving out bad data affecting night time periods in Wx's summary forecast. Wx is skipping these time periods to avoid showing bad data, so you may see some evening periods missing from the summary forecast. I have notified the NWS of the problem, which is on their end.
Saturday Nov 10 2012 08:42AM EST
An NWS server outage is affecting the pro forecast in all versions of Wx (graphical and text forecasts are unaffected at the moment). As soon as this is resolved by the NWS, Wx will automatically fetch and display proper data.
Tuesday Jul 3 2012 01:01PM EDT
The NWS has rolled back the text forecast to the previous format, which means all older versions of Wx will once again work properly. This also means that the new versions of Wx prepared last evening are no longer required (in fact, now they are broken). I have removed the updated Wx versions (1.4.5 on iPhone and iPad and 6.1.3 on Mac) from the App Store review queue until further notice. Customers should continue using the existing versions of Wx, which are 1.4.4 on iPhone and iPad and 6.1.2 on Mac.
Monday Jul 2 2012 11:47PM EDT
Wx for Mac 6.1.3 has been submitted to Apple. This version contains a fix for unannounced changes in the NWS text forecast feed and satellite map URLs.
Monday Jul 2 2012 10:48PM EDT
Wx for iPhone 1.4.5 and Wx for iPad 1.4.5 have been submitted to Apple with a request for an expedited review. These apps contain a fix for unannounced changes in the NWS text forecast feed that were causing crash issues.
Monday Jul 2 2012 05:27PM EDT
The NWS has changed the data format of text forecasts without notice. On the Mac version of Wx, the forecast may no longer be showing. On the iOS versions of Wx, the data may cause the app to crash. A fix for all versions of Wx is in progress and will be uploaded to Apple as soon as possible.
Friday Jun 8 2012 11:15AM EDT
The NWS forecast database seems to have resumed normal operation as of 11:15AM eastern time. Upon next reload, Wx should pick up new data from the servers.
Friday Jun 8 2012 07:45AM EDT
An NWS server outage is affecting the graphical point forecast in all versions of Wx (pro and text forecasts are unaffected). As soon as this is resolved by the NWS, Wx will automatically fetch and display proper data.
Thursday Oct 13 2011 10:40AM EDT
NDFD issues seem to be on the mend. Most of the pro forecast graphs in Wx are displaying correctly now. As the NDFD database is fully populated, more and more of the pro forecast content will come back to proper form.
Thursday Oct 13 2011 07:23AM EDT
NDFD issues continue into Thursday. These primarily affect the pro forecast in Wx, but occasionally impact the point forecast as well. The NWS is aware of the problem, and working on a fix.
Wednesday Oct 12 2011 04:28AM EDT
The NDFD is not returning proper forecast data and there seem to be multiple outages at the NWS. I have reported the issue.
Wednesday Oct 5 2011 07:58AM EDT
The NDFD is not returning full 7-day data for the point forecast. I have reported the issue to the NWS.
Saturday Oct 1 2011 10:12AM EDT
The NWS is doing major server maintenance the weekend of October 1-2. Some service outages may occur, which could affect operation of Wx 5.4 and 6.1 on Mac, and Wx on iPhone and iPad. Apologies for any inconvenience. All newer versions of Wx cache data, and present whatever data was most recently downloaded.
Also, note that changes in the NWS current conditions format are causing Wx to incorrectly display a gust speed of 0.0 mph in cases when there is no measured gust. I have reported this issue to the NWS. If an update to Wx is required, I will work on it next week once the NWS servers are back to normal operation.
Friday September 23 2011 12:01AM EDT
The NDFD feed is back to normal operation, and Point/Pro forecasts in Wx are functioning properly.
Thursday September 22 2011 7:44PM EDT
The NWS has developed a fix for the NDFD script issue, and will put it into production on their servers Friday morning. Wx will resume normal operation at that point.
Thursday September 22 2011 7:14PM EDT
The NWS NDFD scripts broke in the transition to a new server. The NWS is aware of the problem and working on a fix. The Point and Pro forecasts in Wx cannot pull data until this issue is fixed, however the text zone forecast remains operational.
Thursday September 22 2011 12:47PM EDT
The NWS made some server changes at 11AM today, and the NDFD feeds are no longer returning valid data. I have reported the issue to the NWS.
Monday August 29 2011 10:47AM EDT
Due to damage or power loss associated with Hurricane Irene, many NWS observation sites in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the US are down. In addition, some Doppler radar sites areas are out of service until further notice. You may revise your locations in Wx to use alternate or nearby sites until your local sites are back in operation. Please direct questions about weather and radar sites to your local NWS office (see www.weather.gov).
Thursday Jun 2 2011 10:27AM EDT
The current conditions feed is once again operating properly. Thanks to the NWS for the quick fix.
Thursday Jun 2 2011 09:50AM EDT
The current conditions feed contains stale data. I have reported the issue to the NWS.