Status Blog
This blog will be updated whenever I become aware of OS, software, server, or other issues affecting normal operation of Wx -- Craig Hunter, Developer
Tuesday Jul 22 2008 09:29PM EDT
The NWS servers that Wx uses are experiencing heavy loads this evening due to interest in Hurricane Dolly. Please be patient as the NWS tries to deal with the increased load.
Monday Jun 2 2008 04:27PM EDT
Note for anyone who has experienced frequent "curl (6): name lookup timed out" errors in Wx (or other apps) under OS X 10.5 Leopard: update to 10.5.3, as it avoids the problem. In previous versions of 10.5, the OS attempted to make SRV requests from DNS servers, but many older or out of date servers could not handle these requests. 10.5.3 appears to revert to making DNS-A requests (standard behavior in 10.4 and earlier).
Thursday May 15 2008 2:39PM EDT
The point forecast data feed has returned to normal operation.
Thursday May 15 2008 12:43PM EDT
The NWS is aware of the issues with the point forecast data feed, and is working on a fix.
Thursday May 15 2008 9:02AM EDT
The NWS server providing point forecast data to Wx is having issues right now, causing an error message in the point forecast. Wx should resume normal operation once server issues are resolved by the NWS.
Tuesday Apr 29 2008 11:38PM EDT
Server is back up and point forecasts are working normally.
Tuesday Apr 29 2008 11:02PM EDT
The NWS server providing point and pro forecast data to Wx is having issues right now, and Wx is displaying an error message in the point forecast. As soon as service is restored, Wx should resume normal operation.
Saturday Mar 22 2008 09:07PM EDT
The NDFD feeds that provide data for Point and Pro forecasts are experiencing server issues sporadically, and have been for about a week. In addition, Hawaii locations sometimes receive data in a slightly different format than Wx expects. I will contact the NWS and check into this. If needed, an update will be released to fix the Hawaii problem.
Sunday Mar 2 2008 09:17AM EST
Note from Bob Bunge of the NWS:
There is an issue with the systems that create the NDFD mosiacs from the local office data before
it is sent to the NWS web farms.
This is being worked on. I dont have any information on an ETA. At this point, its been reported up the chain of command.
Sunday Mar 2 2008 09:12AM EST
Update from NWS: THE NCF IS LOOKING INTO A PROBLEM WITH THE NDFD SERVERS. ADDITIONAL STATUS WILL BE PROVIDED AS NEW INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE.
The NWS server issue is causing the SOAP (simple object access protocol) feature in Mac OS X to bomb when requesting data for Wx. This is likely due to the NWS servers providing a response that OS X is unable to process. Once the problem is fixed on the NWS end, point and pro forecast issues in Wx will resolve on their own.
Saturday Mar 1 2008 11:18PM EST
The NWS feeds that provide raw data for the point and pro forecasts in Wx are currently experiencing problems.
Thursday Dec 13 2007 09:51AM EST
Zone forecasts are offline. The NWS is aware of the issue and working towards a resolution.
Wednesday Nov 28 2007 08:34PM EST
Note for people running Wx on Mac OS X Leopard 10.5: If you see "curl (6): name lookup timed out" error messages in Wx, check your DNS settings for old, missing, or incorrect name server addresses. Leopard changed the way DNS lookups are done by the OS (it now makes SRV requests) and having correct, up to date name server addresses in network settings is very important.
Wednesday Nov 21 2007 08:40PM EST
Around midnight in each time zone, the point forecast may be reporting an issue where the wrong number of days are returned when requesting XML data from the NDFD feed. The NWS is aware of the issue and working on a fix.
Sunday Oct 28 2007 08:13PM EDT
Wx 5.13 works around the 5-day point forecast issue and is available for download here.
Friday Oct 26 2007 08:42AM EDT
Some users are reporting an error message where Wx requested a 5 day forecast and the NDFD server returned 6 days. Previous versions of Wx would have processed the data incorrectly and failed, but 5.12 traps the error and does not display a forecast. I have reported the issue to the NWS. In the meantime, users can switch to the 7-day forecast mode which seems to avoid the problem.
Thursday Oct 25 2007 10:40PM EDT
Wx 5.12 provides workarounds for all known issues with the new NDFD service that went into operation on 10/22.
Tuesday Oct 23 2007 11:15PM EDT
Wx 5.11 has been released to registered customers, and contains a fix for the NDFD bug affecting the 7-day forecast in Wx. This version also contains a temporary workaround for the day/period naming issue, though a permanent server-side fix will come from the NWS at some point. Note that some of the NWS radar modes are showing "down for maintentance" banners right now.
Tuesday Oct 23 2007 12:49AM EDT
I have pinpointed the problem in the NDFD feed, and also determined that it potentially affects the Wx 5-day forecast as well -- you will see incorrect period names with temperatures and icons out of phase. Debug info has been relayed to the NWS.
Monday Oct 22 2007 11:00PM EDT
There are once again problems in the NDFD service, but it only affects the 7-day "expanded" point forecast. The 5-day "summary" point forecast is fine, so users may want to switch to that option for the time being. I am working the issue with the NWS.
Monday Oct 22 2007 10:38AM EDT
The NDFD service is back online.
Monday Oct 22 2007 08:48AM EDT
The NWS is upgrading the NDFD service today. As of 0845 EDT, the server feeding Wx point/pro forecasts is offline.
Wednesday Oct 10 2007 11:07AM EDT
Users may see missing data in Wx. From the NWS: "The National Weather Service is undergoing some planned maintenance. We expect normal service to return no later 11AM CDT (17Z) October 10, 2007. We apologize for the inconvenience."
Thursday Sep 27 2007 10:18PM EDT
Mobile Wx has been updated to work around a bug in Safari introduced with the iPhone 1.1.1 software update.
Wednesday Sep 26 2007 11:45PM EDT
A workaround has been put in place for an NWS server change that was affecting mobile Wx forecasts.
Tuesday Sep 25 2007 10:37PM EDT
The NDFD feed seems to be working correctly again.
Tuesday Sep 25 2007 09:45PM EDT
The NWS NDFD server is sending out bogus time periods with data, resulting in screwy point and pro forecast displays in Wx.
Friday Sep 21 2007 12:34PM EDT
The NDFD feed is back to normal operation.
Friday Sep 21 2007 10:25AM EDT
NWS expects the NDFD feed to be back up around 11am Eastern.
Friday Sep 21 2007 09:12AM EDT
The NWS digital forecast feed seems to be having issues -- it is returning "nil" values for all requested data. Wx is handling the situation correctly/gracefully by displaying a warning for the point forecast and empty data plots for the pro forecast. Wx will revert to normal operation as soon as the feed starts returning valid data. In the meantime, users can fallback to the zone forecast. Mobile Wx operation is unaffected.
Monday Sep 17 2007 12:10PM EDT
The mobile Wx issue affecting iPod Touch has been resolved with a temporary workaround. I believe it is due to a bug in the version of Mobile Safari running on the Touch. I will continue to analyze the issue and report a bug to Apple if needed.
Monday Sep 17 2007 09:37AM EDT
Some iPod Touch users are reporting a Safari crash with mobile Wx, and I am investigating the issue. The software continues to work fine on iPhones.
Tuesday Aug 28 2007 11:15AM EDT
Mobile Wx has been updated to include radar loops.
Sunday Aug 12 2007 06:32PM EDT
A bug in the NWS NDFD XML feed may result in a scrambled point forecast display in Wx in the early morning hours (3-6am). I have reported this to the NWS and provided them with sample data files given to me by Wx users. I will continue to work the problem with the NWS.
Sunday Aug 12 2007 06:29PM EDT
Mobile Wx has been updated with a new interface and slightly faster response. There is a bug in the NWS current conditions XML feed that results in a daytime weather icon being shown for observations between 12am and 1am. I reported this to the NWS a few weeks ago but it continues to occur. If they cannot fix it soon, I will pursue a workaround in mobile Wx. The problem does not affect Wx -- it calculates sunrise and sunset for each location and chooses day/night icons internally.
Sunday Jul 29 2007 04:13PM EDT
Wx 5.0 has been released. The following changes have been made since the Wx 5.0 preview 2 release: fixed a menu bug, fixed bug in add-on outline view editor, improved behavior of window show/hide events, minor tweaks to unregistered demo mode. I also made some changes to mobile Wx to improve performance on EDGE networks and deal with inconsistent caching in mobile Safari. Now, mobile Wx will cache current weather, forecast, and map data for 20 minutes, alerts data for 10 minutes, and radar data for 7 minutes. This will improve efficiency on EDGE without impacting data quality.
Wx users should download the release version (see "check for updates" link in the Wx menu). Mobile Wx users need only hit "reload" in Safari to begin using the updated mobile Wx.
Wednesday May 16 2007 04:55PM EDT
Test run of blogging software!