swissweather

SwissWeather

Get current weather measurements and forecasts from MeteoSwiss, the official Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology.

Why Use This

• Official Swiss data: Direct from MeteoSwiss government service
• Real measurements: 100+ automated weather stations across Switzerland
• No API key required: Free public data
• Swiss-optimized: Better coverage and accuracy for Switzerland than generic services
• Comprehensive: Temperature, humidity, wind, precipitation, pressure, sunshine, radiation

Quick Start

Current Weather by Station

Get real-time measurements from a specific Swiss weather station:

Option 1: Shell script (no dependencies)

scripts/current_weather_curl.sh --station RAG

Option 2: Python script (requires: pip3 install requests)

scripts/current_weather.py --station RAG

Example output:

Station: RAG
Time: 2026-01-15 11:40 UTC
Temperature (°C)........................ 8.6
Rel. humidity (%)...................... 56.3
Wind speed (km/h)...................... 6.8
Precipitation (mm)..................... 0.0

Popular stations:

• RAG - Rapperswil (Zurich region)
• BER - Bern
• ZRH - Zurich Airport
• BAS - Basel
• GVE - Geneva
• LUG - Lugano

List All Stations

scripts/current_weather_curl.sh --list
# or
scripts/current_weather.py --list

Returns 100+ Swiss weather stations with codes and last update time.

Forecast by Postal Code

Get multi-day weather forecast:

scripts/forecast.py 8640            # Rapperswil-Jona
scripts/forecast.py 8001 --days 7   # Zurich, 7-day forecast

Note: The forecast API may occasionally be unstable. If it fails, fall back to current weather measurements.

Available Data

Current Weather Measurements

Updated every 10 minutes from automated stations:

• Temperature (°C) - Air temperature at 2m height
• Humidity (%) - Relative humidity
• Wind - Speed (km/h), direction (°), gust peak
• Precipitation (mm) - Recent rainfall
• Pressure (hPa) - Station level, sea level
• Sunshine (min) - Duration of sunshine
• Radiation (W/m²) - Global solar radiation
• Dew point (°C)

Weather Forecasts

Multi-day forecasts by Swiss postal code:

• Daily temperature (min/max)
• Weather conditions with icons
• Precipitation amount and probability
• Hourly forecasts (when available)

Station Selection

Choose the nearest station to your location:

• Major cities: BER (Bern), ZRH (Zurich), BAS (Basel), GVE (Geneva), LUG (Lugano)
• Zurich region: KLO (Kloten), RAG (Rapperswil), TAE (Tänikon)
• Central: LUZ (Lucerne), ALT (Altdorf), ENG (Engelberg)
• Mountains: SMA (Säntis), JUN (Jungfraujoch), PIL (Pilatus)

Tip: Avoid mountain stations for valley locations due to altitude differences.

See references/api_info.md for complete station list and details.

JSON Output

All scripts support --json flag for programmatic use:

scripts/current_weather.py --station RAG --json
scripts/forecast.py 8640 --json

Advanced Usage

Multiple Stations

Show all current measurements:

scripts/current_weather.py --all

Find Nearest Station

1. List all stations: scripts/current_weather.py --list
2. Identify closest by name/location
3. Use that station code

Caching

Data updates every 10 minutes. Cache responses appropriately:

# Cache current weather for 5-10 minutes
# Cache forecasts for 1-2 hours

API Reference

See references/api_info.md for:

• Complete API documentation
• All available data fields
• Weather icon codes
• Warning levels and types
• Alternative data sources
• Technical details

Dependencies

pip3 install requests

Data Source

• Provider: MeteoSwiss (Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology)
• Authority: Official Swiss government weather service
• Update: Every 10 minutes (current weather)
• Coverage: 100+ automated stations across Switzerland
• URL: https://data.geo.admin.ch / https://www.meteoschweiz.admin.ch

Troubleshooting

Forecast API fails: The MeteoSwiss app API occasionally changes. If forecast.py fails, use current weather measurements instead, or check references/api_info.md for alternative methods.

Station not found: Use --list to see available stations. Station codes are 3-letter abbreviations (case-insensitive).

Missing data: Some stations don't measure all parameters. Look for - or N/A in output.

Related

• swiss-transport: Swiss public transport schedules and connections
• weather: Generic weather service (wttr.in) - use swissweather for Switzerland