Get Observation Stations

GET /stations

Overview

Returns metadata for official NWS observation stations. Use it to discover stations near an area by state, then follow each station’s links for observations. Returns metadata for official NWS observation stations.

Headers & Auth

User-Agent (required): A string identifying your app and contact (for example, MyWeatherApp/1.0 (me@myweatherapp.com).

Accept (recommended): application/geo+json

Authorization: Not required.

HTTP Requests

To return a list of stations: GET https://api.weather.gov/stations

For a specific station: GET https://api.weather.gov/stations/{stationId}

Path Parameters

(for GET /stations/{stationId})

Name	Type	Required	Constraints	Example
stationId	string	✓	3–4 letter ICAO/FAA (for example, KPHL) or other NWS id	KBUF

Query parameters

Name	Type	Required	Default	Constraints	Example
state	string or CSV			One or more US state codes	state=NY or state=OK,TX ([zenpacks.zenoss.io][1])
bbox	string			west,south,east,north (WGS84)	bbox=-79.9,42.4,-78.2,43.4 (example format)
limit	integer		25	Max 500 per request	limit=200 ([GitHub][2])
cursor	string			Use value from server to paginate to next page	cursor=…
stationId	string or CSV			Filter to one or more known ids	stationId=KBUF,KIAG

Example requests

cURL—list stations in New York (first 100)

curl -s "https://api.weather.gov/stations?state=NY&limit=100" 
  -H "User-Agent: MyWeatherApp/1.0 (me@myweatherapp.com)" 
  -H "Accept: application/geo+json"

JavaScript (Node)—get one station and its latest obs link

import fetch from "node-fetch";

const ua = "MyWeatherApp/1.0 (me@myweatherapp.com)";
const r = await fetch("https://api.weather.gov/stations/KBUF", {
  headers: { "User-Agent": ua, "Accept": "application/geo+json" }
});
if (!r.ok) throw new Error(`HTTP ${r.status}`);
const station = await r.json();
// You can then call: GET /stations/KBUF/observations/latest
console.log(station.properties.stationIdentifier, station.properties.name);

Example responses

200 OK—GET /stations?state=NY&limit=2 (truncated)

✅ 200 OK—GET /stations?state=NY&limit=2

{
  "type": "FeatureCollection",
  "features": [
    {
      "id": "https://api.weather.gov/stations/KBUF",
      "type": "Feature",
      "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [-78.735, 42.940] },
      "properties": {
        "stationIdentifier": "KBUF",
        "name": "Buffalo Niagara Intl Airport",
        "timeZone": "America/New_York",
        "elevation": { "unitCode": "wmoUnit:m", "value": 221.0 }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "https://api.weather.gov/stations/KIAG",
      "type": "Feature",
      "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [-78.946, 43.107] },
      "properties": {
        "stationIdentifier": "KIAG",
        "name": "Niagara Falls Intl Airport",
        "timeZone": "America/New_York",
        "elevation": { "unitCode": "wmoUnit:m", "value": 180.0 }
      }
    }
  ]
}

200 OK - GET /stations?state=NY&limit=2(truncated)

✅ 200 OK—Example Response

{
  "type": "FeatureCollection",
  "features": [
    {
      "id": "https://api.weather.gov/stations/KBUF",
      "type": "Feature",
      "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [-78.735, 42.940] },
      "properties": {
        "stationIdentifier": "KBUF",
        "name": "Buffalo Niagara Intl Airport",
        "timeZone": "America/New_York",
        "elevation": { "unitCode": "wmoUnit:m", "value": 221.0 }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "https://api.weather.gov/stations/KIAG",
      "type": "Feature",
      "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [-78.946, 43.107] },
      "properties": {
        "stationIdentifier": "KIAG",
        "name": "Niagara Falls Intl Airport",
        "timeZone": "America/New_York",
        "elevation": { "unitCode": "wmoUnit:m", "value": 180.0 }
      }
    }
  ]
}

200 OK—GET /stations/KBUF (truncated)

✅ 200 OK—GET /stations/KBUF

{
  "id": "https://api.weather.gov/stations/KBUF",
  "type": "Feature",
  "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [-78.735, 42.940] },
  "properties": {
    "stationIdentifier": "KBUF",
    "name": "Buffalo Niagara Intl Airport",
    "timeZone": "America/New_York",
    "elevation": { "unitCode": "wmoUnit:m", "value": 221.0 }
  }
}

400 Bad Request—invalid bbox

{
  "correlationId": "…",
  "title": "Bad Request",
  "type": "https://api.weather.gov/problems/BadRequest",
  "detail": "bbox must be west,south,east,north (WGS84)"
}

403 Forbidden—missing User-Agent

{
  "title": "Access denied",
  "detail": "A valid User-Agent header is required."
}

404 Not Found—unknown station

{
  "title": "Not Found",
  "detail": "Station KZZZ was not found."
}

Response fields

📘 Response Fields—GET /stations

Field	Type	Description
type	string	GeoJSON type (FeatureCollection or Feature). ([National Weather Service][1])
features[]	array	List of station features (for collection responses).
id	string (URL)	Canonical URL for this station resource.
geometry.type	string	Always Point for station features.
geometry.coordinates	number[2]	[lon, lat] in WGS84.
properties.stationIdentifier	string	Station ID (for example, KBUF).
properties.name	string	Human-readable station name. (Added to observations “latest” per 2025 SCN; often present on station resources as well.) ([National Weather Service][2])
properties.timeZone	string	IANA time zone for the station.
properties.elevation.unitCode	string	Unit per WMO code list (for example, wmoUnit:m).
properties.elevation.value	number	Elevation value in meters.

Status codes

Code	Meaning	What to do
200	OK	—
400	Bad Request	Check parameter shapes (for example, bbox order/format).
403	Forbidden	Add a valid User-Agent header. ([weather-gov.github.io][1])
404	Not Found	Verify stationId.
5xx	Server error	Retry with backoff; respect rate limits.

Notes & tips

Pagination: Use limit (max 500) and the server-provided paging mechanism (cursor / “next” link) to iterate through large result sets. GitHub

Discoverability: From /points/{lat},{lon} you can follow observationStations to the list of nearby stations for that gridpoint.