wpc_map

Downloads archived surface weather maps from the Weather Prediction Center

The Weather Prediction Center -- part of the National Weather Service -- has archived surface weather maps available to download. For getting a few maps, visiting the Weather Prediction Center site works quite well, wpc-map can download maps for a period of time, the last week for example. Maps are downloaded from the WPC's Surface Analysis Archive page.

Installing and Running wpc_map

Install Python 3.6 or greater on your system that is available for download from python.org.
Open wpc_map in your browser.
Click the green Cone or download button to download the wpc_map package.
Expand the archive file into its own folder.
Install the required python packages by entering pip install -r expanded-zip-folder/wpc_map-master/requirements.txt.
To run enter python expanded-zip-folder/wpc_map-master/wpc_map/cli.py -h to get help on how to run this application.

There is more help available at Python's Installing Packages page.

Running wpc_map

wpc_map is a command line tool implemented in Python. Examples of how to run it are provided here. It also so built in help that is available from the command line.

$ python wpc_map.py -h
Usage: wpc_map.py [OPTIONS]

  Downloads and saves a series of weather maps from the Weather Prediction
  Centers Surface Analysis Archive.

  One map of each type will be downloaded for every date and time specified.

  :param start_date:  Starting data and time (inclusive)
  :param end_date:    Stopping date and time (inclusive)
  :param period:      Hours between subsequent maps, first map is always 00Z. Valid values are: 3, 6, 12, or 24.
  :param maps:        Valid map types include following strings:
      namussfc        Unites States (CONUS)
      usfntsfc        United States (Fronts/Analysis Only)
      print_us        United States (B/W)
      ussatsfc        U.S. Analysis/Satellite Composition
      radsfcus_exp    U.S. Analysis/Radar Composition
      namfntsfc       North America (Fronts/Analysis Only)
      satsfcnps       North America Analysis/Satellite Composition
  :param map_dir:     Folder used to store the downloaded map files

Options:
  -s, --start_date TEXT           Starting date as YYYY-MM-DD or YYYYMMDD
                                  format.
  -e, --end_date TEXT             Ending date as YYYY-MM-DD or YYYYMMDD format
  -p, --period [3|6|12|24]        Hours between subsequent maps (3, 6, 12,
                                  24).  First map is always 00Z.  The period
                                  default is 24.
  -m, --maps [namussfc|usfntsfc|print_us|ussatsfc|radsfcus_exp|namfntsfc|satsfcnps]
                                  Type(s) of surface weather maps to download.
                                  Repeat this option to specify several
                                  different types of maps.
  -d, --map_dir TEXT              Directory to store downloaded maps. Defaults
                                  to ~/Desktop/Wpc_Maps and the path is
                                  normalized for operating system.
  -h, --help                      Show this message and exit.

Downloading a single map for one day

$ python cli.py -s 2017-07-04 -e 2017-07-04 -m namussfc
[####################################]  100%
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170704_00z_namussfc.gif

Downloading a several types of maps of files for one day

$ python cli.py -s 2017-07-04 -e 2017-07-04 -m namussfc -m print_us -m ussatsfc
[############------------------------]   33%
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170704_00z_namussfc.gif
[########################------------]   66%  0d 00:00:04
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170704_00z_print_us.gif
[####################################]  100%
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170704_00z_ussatsfc.gif

Downloading one map every 6 hours for one day

$ python cli.py -s 2017-07-04 -e 2017-07-04 -p 6 -m satsfcnps
  [#########---------------------------]   25%
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170704_00z_satsfcnps.gif
  [##################------------------]   50%  0d 00:00:07
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170704_06z_satsfcnps.gif
  [###########################---------]   75%  0d 00:00:04
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170704_12z_satsfcnps.gif
  [####################################]  100%
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170704_18z_satsfcnps.gif

Downloading one map every 12 hours over a number of days

$ python cli.py -s 2017-07-04 -e 2017-07-07 -p 12 -m namussfc
  [####--------------------------------]   12%
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170704_00z_namussfc.gif
  [#########---------------------------]   25%  0d 00:00:18
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170704_12z_namussfc.gif
  [#############-----------------------]   37%  0d 00:00:18
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170705_00z_namussfc.gif
  [##################------------------]   50%  0d 00:00:15
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170705_12z_namussfc.gif
  [######################--------------]   62%  0d 00:00:13
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170706_00z_namussfc.gif
  [###########################---------]   75%  0d 00:00:10
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170706_12z_namussfc.gif
  [###############################-----]   87%  0d 00:00:05
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170707_00z_namussfc.gif
  [####################################]  100%
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170707_12z_namussfc.gif

Downloading two maps every 12 hours over a number of days

$ python cli.py -s 2017-07-04 -e 2017-07-07 -p 12 -m namussfc
  [####--------------------------------]   12%
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170704_00z_namussfc.gif
  [#########---------------------------]   25%  0d 00:00:18
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170704_12z_namussfc.gif
  [#############-----------------------]   37%  0d 00:00:18
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170705_00z_namussfc.gif
  [##################------------------]   50%  0d 00:00:15
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170705_12z_namussfc.gif
  [######################--------------]   62%  0d 00:00:13
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170706_00z_namussfc.gif
  [###########################---------]   75%  0d 00:00:10
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170706_12z_namussfc.gif
  [###############################-----]   87%  0d 00:00:05
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170707_00z_namussfc.gif
  [####################################]  100%
Saving file: /Users/rob/Desktop/Wpc_Maps/20170707_12z_namussfc.gif

robOcity/wpc_map