---
id: pynws
version: "2.1.0"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# pynws — Python library to retrieve observations and forecasts from NWS/NOAA

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 75.6K/mo

## What it is and what it does

pynws is a Python library that wraps the National Weather Service (NWS/NOAA) API to retrieve weather data asynchronously. It provides two main interfaces: a lower-level `Nws` class for minimally processed data and a higher-level `SimpleNWS` class that adds data caching and unit normalization. The library converts NWS observations into standardized units (Celsius for temperature, Pascal for pressure, km_h-1 for wind speed, etc.) and allows you to fetch current observations, forecasts, and weather alerts for a specific geographic location.

The package depends on aiohttp for HTTP requests, yarl for URL handling, and metar for parsing meteorological data. It targets modern Python (3.9+) and is actively maintained. With low install friction and no known vulnerabilities, it is straightforward to integrate into weather-aware applications.

Use it for:

- Build a weather dashboard or home automation system that polls NWS for current conditions and alerts.
- Integrate real-time weather forecasts into a mobile or web app without managing your own weather data.
- Monitor weather alerts for a specific forecast zone to trigger notifications or automated responses.
- Retrieve standardized meteorological observations for data analysis or logging.
- Create a weather-aware scheduling system that adjusts plans based on NWS forecasts.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Asynchronously fetch weather observations, forecasts, and alerts from the National Weather Service (NWS/NOAA) API for a given location.

Yes. The package is actively maintained, has low install friction, carries a permissive MIT license, and solves a specific problem (async NWS data retrieval) with a clean API. It is suitable for weather-aware applications, home automation, and data collection. No known security vulnerabilities indicate reliable use.

## Install

pip install pynws
uv add pynws
poetry add pynws

## Installing pynws

Before you install: Low install friction with pure Python wheels. Actively maintained with a recent commit (2026-08-03) and steady release cadence. Supports current Python versions (3.9–3.13).

License in practice: MIT license permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; suitable for most projects.

Quickstart:

import aiohttp
import pynws

async def get_weather():
    async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
        nws = pynws.SimpleNWS(39.95, -75.16, "user@example.com", session)
        await nws.set_station()
        await nws.update_observation()
        print(nws.observation)

Requires an async context (asyncio event loop) and a valid user-agent string (email) for NWS API requests.

Verify before relying:

- Whether SimpleNWS caching behavior and update frequency are documented or configurable.
- Rate limits or throttling behavior when making repeated NWS API calls.
- Availability of detailed error handling or retry logic for network failures.

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 75.6K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

NWS NOAA weather API client, async weather observations, national weather service python, weather forecast retrieval, NOAA weather data library, real-time weather observations, weather alerts and forecasts, weather-api, async-http, noaa

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