Tempest Weather Plugin

Scootercam Tempest Weather Plugin v4.0

A comprehensive WordPress plugin for displaying weather data from your WeatherFlow Tempest weather station.

📋 Table of Contents

• Installation
• Configuration
• Available Shortcodes
• Features
• Cache Management
• Troubleshooting
• Changelog

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🚀 Installation

1. Upload scootercam-tempest-weather.php to /wp-content/plugins/scootercam-tempest-weather/
2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
3. Go to Settings → Tempest Weather to configure

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⚙️ Configuration

Getting Your API Credentials

1. Visit tempestwx.com/settings/tokens
2. Click “Create Token” to generate your Personal Access Token
3. Copy the token

Finding Your Station ID

Your Station ID is in your Tempest dashboard URL:

https://tempestwx.com/station/198109
                                ^^^^^^ This is your Station ID

Finding Your Device ID

IMPORTANT: Your Device ID is NOT the same as your serial number!

• ❌ Serial Number: ST-00194473 (printed on device)
• ✅ Device ID: 461557 (internal API ID)

How to Find Your Device ID:

Method 1 – Use the Diagnostic Tool:

1. Download tempest-test-198109.php (included with plugin)
2. Upload to your WordPress root directory
3. Visit https://yoursite.com/tempest-test-198109.php
4. Find your Device ID in the results

Method 2 – API Endpoint: Visit this URL (replace YOUR_STATION_ID and YOUR_TOKEN):

https://swd.weatherflow.com/swd/rest/stations/YOUR_STATION_ID?token=YOUR_TOKEN

Look for the “device_id” field in the JSON response.

WordPress Settings

Settings → Tempest Weather:

• API Token: Your Personal Access Token
• Station ID: Your numeric station ID (e.g., 198109)
• Device ID: Your numeric device ID (e.g., 461557)
• Cache Settings: Configure how long data is cached (see Cache Management)

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📊 Available Shortcodes

Display Shortcodes (Cards & Tables)

Current Conditions

[scootercam_tempest_current]

Displays current weather conditions in a classic table format.

[scootercam_tempest_current_card]

Displays current conditions in a modern card layout.

Forecasts

[scootercam_tempest_daily_forecast]

Displays 10-day forecast in table format.

[scootercam_tempest_hourly_forecast]

Displays 24-hour forecast in table format.

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Chart Shortcodes

24-Hour Chart

[scootercam_tempest_chart_24hr]

Attributes:

• metrics – Comma-separated list: temp, wind, pressure, humidity, rain (default: temp,wind)
• height – Chart height in pixels (default: 400)

7-Day Chart

[scootercam_tempest_chart_7day]

Attributes:

• metrics – Available: temp, rain, wind (default: temp,rain,wind)
• height – Chart height in pixels (default: 400)

Custom Time Range Chart

[scootercam_tempest_chart_custom hours="12" metrics="temp" height="300" title="Last 12 Hours"]

Attributes:

• hours – Number of hours to display (default: 24)
• metrics – Same as 24hr chart (default: temp)
• height – Chart height in pixels (default: 400)
• title – Custom chart title (default: blank)

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Statistics Shortcodes

Display high/low/max values for a time period with timestamps.

[scootercam_tempest_stats_today]

Today’s statistics (midnight to now in your timezone).

[scootercam_tempest_stats_yesterday]

Yesterday’s statistics.

[scootercam_tempest_stats_week]

This week’s statistics (Monday to now).

[scootercam_tempest_stats_month]

This month’s statistics.

Output includes:

• High/Low Temperature (with time occurred)
• Max Wind Speed (with time)
• Total Rainfall
• High/Low Pressure (with time)

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Records Shortcodes

Display all-time or monthly record values with dates.

[scootercam_tempest_records_all]

All-time records (last 90 days of data).

[scootercam_tempest_records_month]

This month’s records.

Output includes:

• Highest/Lowest Temperature (with date)
• Max Wind Speed (with date)
• Max Daily Rainfall (with date)
• Highest/Lowest Pressure (with date)

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Individual Data Shortcodes

Display single data points inline with text.

[tempest-temp]

27.9°F

Current temperature (default: Fahrenheit, 1 decimal).

[tempest-humidity]

88%

Current humidity percentage.

[tempest-pressure]

30.27 inHg

Current barometric pressure (units: inhg or mb).

[tempest-wind-speed]

2.7 mph

Current wind speed (units: mph, kph, or mps).

[tempest-wind-gust]

Current wind gust speed.

[tempest-wind-direction]

SSW

Wind direction (format: degrees or cardinal like “NW”).

[tempest-rain-rate]

0.00 in/hr

Current rain rate (units: in or mm).

[tempest-rain-today]

Total rainfall today.

[tempest-uv]

Current UV index.

[tempest-solar]

Current solar radiation (W/m²).

[tempest-lightning]

—

Last lightning strike distance (units: mi or km).

[tempest-feels-like]

27.9°F

Feels-like temperature.

[tempest-dewpoint]

24.8°F

Dew point temperature.

[tempest-data field="field_name"]

Any raw API field value.

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Trend Shortcode (NEW!)

Display trend indicators showing whether values are rising, falling, or steady.

[tempest-trend field="temp_f" hours="3" format="icon"]

Attributes:

• field – Available: temp_f, temp_c, humidity, pressure, wind, rain (default: temp_f)
• hours – Time period to compare (default: 3)
• format – Output format:
  • icon – Just arrow: ↑ ↓ → (default)
  • text – Just text: Rising, Falling, Steady
  • value – Just change amount: +2.5
  • all – Everything: ↑ Rising (+2.5 over 3h)

Examples:

Temperature: [tempest-temp] [tempest-trend field="temp_f" hours="3"]
Output: Temperature: 42.5°F ↑

↓ Falling (-0.5 over 6h)

Output: ↑ Rising (+2.5 over 6h)

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Example Usage

<h2>Current Conditions</h2>

<p>The temperature is currently 27.9°F ↓ with winds at 3 mph mph from the SSW.</p> <h2>Today’s Weather</h2>

<h2>Last 24 Hours</h2>

<h2>10-Day Forecast</h2>

<h2>All-Time Records</h2>

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🎯 Features

Smart Caching

• Configurable cache durations for different data types
• Current conditions: 5 minutes (default)
• Historical data: 15 minutes (default)
• Forecasts: 30 minutes (default)
• Manual cache clearing available

Timezone Aware

• All times display in your WordPress timezone setting
• Statistics periods calculated correctly for your timezone
• No more UTC confusion!

Responsive Design

• Charts automatically resize for mobile
• Grid layouts adapt to screen size
• Touch-friendly interfaces

Auto-Refresh

• Current conditions cards refresh every 5 minutes via JavaScript
• No page reload needed

Debug Mode

• Admins see detailed debug information
• Shows observation counts, time ranges, cache status
• Helps troubleshoot issues

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🔧 Cache Management

Cache Durations

Configure in Settings → Tempest Weather:

• Current Conditions Cache: How long to cache live weather data (default: 300 seconds = 5 minutes)
• Historical Data Cache: How long to cache charts/stats (default: 900 seconds = 15 minutes)
• Forecast Cache: How long to cache forecasts (default: 1800 seconds = 30 minutes)

Best Practices

For public websites with moderate traffic:

• Current: 5 minutes (fresh enough for visitors)
• Historical: 15-30 minutes (historical data doesn’t change)
• Forecast: 30 minutes (forecasts update hourly)

For low-traffic sites:

• Can increase all values to reduce API calls
• Historical data can cache for 1+ hours

For real-time monitoring:

• Reduce current conditions to 2-3 minutes
• Keep historical/forecast longer

Manual Cache Clear

Settings → Tempest Weather → Cache Management

Click “Clear All Cached Data” button to immediately clear all cached weather data. Useful when:

• Testing changes
• Data seems stale or incorrect
• After changing API credentials
• Troubleshooting issues

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🐛 Troubleshooting

Charts Not Displaying

Symptom: Blank gray area where chart should be

Solutions:

1. Check browser console (F12) for JavaScript errors
2. Clear WordPress cache
3. Hard refresh browser (Ctrl+Shift+R)
4. Verify Chart.js is loading (check Network tab in browser dev tools)

Wrong Times Displayed

Symptom: Times are off by several hours

Solution:

1. Go to Settings → General → Timezone
2. Set to your city or manual UTC offset
3. Clear plugin cache (Settings → Tempest Weather)
4. Refresh page

“No Historical Data” Errors

Symptoms: Charts or stats show errors

Solutions:

1. Verify your Device ID is correct (not serial number!)
2. Use diagnostic tool to confirm: tempest-test-198109.php
3. Ensure station has been online for 24+ hours
4. Check error log for API errors

API Errors (404, 401, etc.)

Solutions:

1. 401 Unauthorized: API token is invalid or expired
   • Generate new token at tempestwx.com/settings/tokens
2. 404 Not Found: Station ID or Device ID is incorrect
   • Use diagnostic tool to verify IDs
3. Check error log for specific API URLs and responses

Stats Show Future Times

Symptom: “Low temp at 7:00 PM” but it’s only 11 AM

Solution:

• Clear the plugin cache
• This was a timezone issue fixed in v4.0
• Make sure you’re running v4.0 or later

High and Low Temps Are Same

Symptom: High and low show identical values

Solutions:

1. Verify your Device ID is numeric (e.g., 461557, not ST-00194473)
2. Check that station has been recording for several hours
3. Clear cache to force fresh data
4. Check debug info (visible to admins) for observation count

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📝 Changelog

v4.0 (November 2025)

• FIXED: Major timezone issue – stats periods now correctly calculated in WordPress timezone
• FIXED: Times showing in UTC instead of local time
• FIXED: “Today” starting at wrong time for non-UTC timezones
• ADDED: Cache clear button in settings
• IMPROVED: Debug output now shows timezone-aware timestamps

v3.9 (November 2025)

• ADDED: Timestamps to statistics displays (high/low temps now show when they occurred)
• ADDED: Times show as “3:15 PM” for today/yesterday, “Nov 15, 3:15 PM” for longer periods
• FIXED: All date formatting now uses WordPress timezone (wp_date function)
• IMPROVED: Better styling for record dates

v3.8 (November 2025)

• ADDED: ↓ shortcode for showing rising/falling indicators
• IMPROVED: Reduced logging – only errors logged, not successful API calls
• IMPROVED: Better stat and record styling with CSS

v3.7 (November 2025)

• ADDED: CSS styling for records and stats displays
• FIXED: Record dates now visible and properly formatted
• IMPROVED: Grid layouts for stats and records

v3.6 (November 2025)

• ADDED: Trend shortcode functionality
• IMPROVED: Documentation in admin panel

v3.5 (November 2025)

• FIXED: Charts rendering – fixed “Canvas exceeds max size” error
• FIXED: Canvas elements properly constrained by height attribute
• IMPROVED: Chart.js loads in header for faster initialization
• ADDED: Better error messages and debugging for charts

v3.4 (November 2025)

• ADDED: Configurable cache durations in settings
• ADDED: Separate cache settings for current/historical/forecast data
• IMPROVED: Better cache strategy

v3.3 (November 2025)

• FIXED: Historical data now works – added time_start and time_end parameters to all API calls
• FIXED: Stats now show actual high/low temps instead of same value
• FIXED: Charts display full time ranges with hundreds of observations

v3.2 (November 2025)

• FIXED: Corrected API endpoint format – now uses /observations/device/{id}
• CLARIFIED: Device ID vs Serial Number in documentation
• IMPROVED: Better error messages and setup instructions

v3.1 (November 2025)

• ADDED: Chart shortcodes (24hr, 7-day, custom)
• ADDED: Statistics shortcodes (today, yesterday, week, month)
• ADDED: Records tracking (all-time, monthly)
• FIXED: API endpoint issues

v3.0 (November 2025)

• ADDED: Modern card-based current conditions display
• IMPROVED: Responsive design
• ADDED: Auto-refresh functionality

v2.x and earlier

• Basic weather data display
• Forecast tables
• Individual data shortcodes

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🔗 Resources

• WeatherFlow API Documentation: weatherflow.github.io/Tempest
• Your Tempest Dashboard: tempestwx.com
• API Token Management: tempestwx.com/settings/tokens
• Support: Check WordPress error log for detailed API errors

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📄 License

This plugin is provided as-is for use with WeatherFlow Tempest weather stations.

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🙏 Credits

Developed for ScooterCam.net weather monitoring system. Uses WeatherFlow Tempest API for data. Charts powered by Chart.js.

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Version: 4.0
Last Updated: November 20, 2025
Requires: WordPress 5.0+, PHP 7.4+
Compatible: WeatherFlow Tempest Personal Weather Stations