# API Documentation and a few questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Developers\ **Tags:** tempest\ **Created:** [February 4, 2024, 7:14pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/api-documentation-and-a-few-questions/23722 "2024-02-04T19:14:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![livysdad27](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/livysdad27/32/14185_2.png) [@livysdad27](https://community.tempest.earth/u/livysdad27)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2024, 7:14pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/api-documentation-and-a-few-questions/23722/1 "2024-02-04T19:14:18Z")
So a couple of notes, I recently had a ticket logged for my weewx driver that made me go on quite the long search for clarity. As part of that I opened a ticket with weatherflow since their documentation linked on this forum for the API (hosted on github I think) doesn’t match [Quick Start](https://apidocs.tempestwx.com/reference/quick-start) . In that ticket they referenced the apiddocs site as the correct source of truth. Not sure how to request the administrators of the forum to update those links? Thoughts??? Second, part of what I’m working through is a pretty big discrepancy between rain readings and nearby stations for one of the users. He’s seeing 2x - 5x the amount of rain reported from his as other nearby non-tempest stations. I’ve read about the need to calibrate and avoid vibrations, he’s going to look into that but I’m curious about a few other things… To be clear, I use the websocket API and my driver is at [GitHub - livysdad27/tempestWS: Weatherflow Tempest WebSocket Driver](https://github.com/livysdad27/tempestWS) if you want to take a gander. 1. What is the real difference between obs\_st[12] (rain accumulation in mm over last 60 seconds) and obs\_st[19] (nearcast rain). Is the second just an adjusted version of 12 (accumulation over last 60 seconds) or is it a daily counter or??? 2. Has anyone ever tested the rest api vs websocket to see if they have the same obs definitions??? Thoughts? Many thanks! Billy ---
**Author:** ![btst.online](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/btst.online/32/16538_2.png) [@btst.online](https://community.tempest.earth/u/btst.online)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 1:27pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/api-documentation-and-a-few-questions/23722/2 "2024-02-05T13:27:09Z")
Nearcast IS the WF ‘corrected’ rain totals, based on their ‘voodoo magic’ observations of other rain source ‘near’ the area where the station in question is located. A bit more about the rain items: > [@Where can I find out what these "obs" values mean?](https://community.tempest.earth/t/where-can-i-find-out-what-these-obs-values-mean/20681/4): > > It is important to note that WeatherFlow use the same API endpoints to power their in-house apps as we as users use to power our third-party apps. As a result, there are plenty of undocumented ‘features’ in the API that exist to provide the data required by WF, but are undocumented as they can change at any time and should only be used with that strong caveat in mind. If something is undocumented, then there is no guarantee that it will always be available. That being said, here is my take on … ---
**Author:** ![livysdad27](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/livysdad27/32/14185_2.png) [@livysdad27](https://community.tempest.earth/u/livysdad27)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 3:34pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/api-documentation-and-a-few-questions/23722/3 "2024-02-05T15:34:41Z")
Thanks btst, That’s helpful. I’m trying however to find the definition of the websocket obs\_st[19] definition for “Nearcast Rain Accumulation”. I want to validate that it’s returning “since last observation” in the same way that field 12 is. I may just open another ticket to double check. Many thanks… Billy ---
**Author:** ![iladyman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/iladyman/32/2305_2.png) [@iladyman](https://community.tempest.earth/u/iladyman)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 6:13pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/api-documentation-and-a-few-questions/23722/4 "2024-02-05T18:13:02Z")
I can not help with your detail specific question. Nearcast rain does not work for my area so I never used it. This post is similar and links to some information regarding Nearcast rain that might help understand slightly > [@Is Nearcast Rain available via API?](https://community.tempest.earth/t/is-nearcast-rain-available-via-api/23115): > > So I’ve been happily pulling 30 minute interval rain data for my Tempest from the API and comparing it to electrical draw for a sump pump in my basement for about 18 months now. This was all to understand how much rainfall triggers sump activity and things were going well…behaviors correlated etc. As I started to aggregate my rainfall measurements (from 30 minute to daily) and compare those to what was in the Tempest app and NOAA, I spent about a hour really confused. Nothing added up and inte… ---
**Author:** ![vinceskahan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/vinceskahan/32/2785_2.png) [@vinceskahan](https://community.tempest.earth/u/vinceskahan)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2024, 5:48pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/api-documentation-and-a-few-questions/23722/5 "2024-02-07T17:48:41Z")
Wow it is hard to navigate the newly reorganized pages… GettingStarted =\> Quick Start =\> Observation and Event Definitions This gets you to the Tempest Observations _collected from midnight to midnight in the station’s local timezone. Denoted in API responses with type **obs\_st\_ext** _ … ```auto 12 = rain during reporting interval 19 = nearcast rain during reporting interval 17 = the reporting interval 18 = rain since midnight 20 = nearcast rain since midnight (and I'd expect daylight savings transition days to be a mess here) ``` The next block of examples are Tempest Daily Observations _collected from midnight to midnight in the station’s local timezone. Denoted in API responses with type **obs\_st\_ext** _ ```auto 28 = rain 29 = nearcast rain ``` So I’d expect (hope) that: ```auto 28 = 18 28 = sum_of_the_12 29 = 20 29 = sum_of_the_19 ``` I have no idea which way(s) into their REST vs. Websockets gets you to **obs\_st** and **obs\_st\_ext**. given how cryptically their docs are written, but they seem to use the same arrays for each way. Also note the UDP API array content for tempest observations is of course different in what’s where since it has no nearcast anything. ---
**Author:** ![jeffstein](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/jeffstein/32/14763_2.png) [@jeffstein](https://community.tempest.earth/u/jeffstein)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 3:37pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/api-documentation-and-a-few-questions/23722/6 "2024-02-29T15:37:07Z")
I must say I’m pretty lost as well 🙂 I hadn’t seen: > **[Quick Start](https://apidocs.tempestwx.com/reference/quick-start)** > > Tempest API Quick StartThe Tempest API empowers developers to build useful applications, data feeds and integrations by providing easy access to all the data the Tempest System offers. This is the same API we use for the official Tempest apps &... I was working off: [https://weatherflow.github.io/Tempest/api/](https://weatherflow.github.io/Tempest/api/) ---
**Author:** ![jeffstein](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/jeffstein/32/14763_2.png) [@jeffstein](https://community.tempest.earth/u/jeffstein)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2024, 1:30pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/api-documentation-and-a-few-questions/23722/7 "2024-03-02T13:30:50Z")
Which is more up to date? The QuickStart gives a few options to register lightning messages: ```json { "type":"geo_strike_listen_start", "lat_min": 37.28, "lat_max": 41.32, "lon_min": -101.76, "lon_max": -91.00 , "id": 12345 } ``` with `strike_type` = xxx And the other docs say if I send: ```json { "type":"listen_start", "device_id":1110, "id":"2098388936" } ``` I’ll get `evt_strike` messages. Does one work - do both? ---
**Author:** ![david1016](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/96bed5/32.png) [@david1016](https://community.tempest.earth/u/david1016)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 6:30am UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/api-documentation-and-a-few-questions/23722/8 "2025-07-20T06:30:13Z")
Sorry for digging up an old thread but I just saw this while I was looking for something. I’ve been using their websockets API for a few years. If any of these questions are still outstanding let me know and I can provide some clarity and review your code.