Too Warm - Franklin Falls Ice Climbing Weather

A weather monitoring web application for ice climbing conditions at Franklin Falls, Washington. Inspired by toorainy.com, but optimized for ice climbing conditions.

Features

• Real-time Weather Data: Fetches current weather forecasts from the National Weather Service API
• Historical Tracking: Stores and displays weather data from the past 7 days
• Color-Coded Conditions: Easy-to-read table with color coding optimized for ice climbing:
  • Temperature: Cold temps (below freezing) highlighted as good conditions
  • Precipitation: Snow is good (builds ice), rain is bad (melts ice)
  • Wind: Calm conditions preferred for climbing safety
• Automatic Updates: Background worker fetches fresh data every hour
• Single Entry Point: One command starts both the web server and data collector

Installation

Requirements

• Python 3.7+
• pip

Setup

1. Clone the repository:

git clone <repository-url>
cd Toowarm.con

2. Install dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Usage

Start the Application

Run the main application (starts both web server and background collector):

python3 app.py

The application will:

1. Initialize the SQLite database
2. Start collecting weather data immediately
3. Continue fetching updates every hour
4. Serve the web interface on http://localhost:5000

Visit http://localhost:5000 in your web browser to see the weather conditions.

Alternative Scripts

Individual components can also be run separately:

Original Weather Fetcher (One-time)

python3 franklin_falls_weather.py

Weather Collector (Background data collection)

# Run once and exit
python3 weather_collector.py --once

# Run continuously with custom interval (in seconds)
python3 weather_collector.py --interval=1800  # 30 minutes

# Run continuously with default 1-hour interval
python3 weather_collector.py

View Historical Data

# View latest forecast
python3 view_weather_history.py latest

# View fetch history (last 10 by default)
python3 view_weather_history.py history

# View fetch history (custom limit)
python3 view_weather_history.py history 20

# View temperature trends (last 24 hours)
python3 view_weather_history.py trends

# View database statistics
python3 view_weather_history.py stats

Architecture

Components

1. app.py: Main entry point that runs both the Flask web server and weather collector
2. models.py: SQLAlchemy database models for storing weather data
3. franklin_falls_weather.py: Original simple weather fetcher (displays to console)
4. weather_collector.py: Standalone background collector service
5. view_weather_history.py: Command-line tool for viewing historical data
6. templates/index.html: Web interface template

Database

The application uses SQLite by default (franklin_falls_weather.db) but is designed to easily migrate to PostgreSQL in the future.

Database Schema

weather_forecasts table:

• id: Primary key
• fetched_at: Timestamp when data was collected (indexed)
• period_name: Forecast period (e.g., "Tonight", "Wednesday")
• temperature: Temperature value
• temperature_unit: F or C
• wind_speed: Wind speed string
• wind_direction: Wind direction
• short_forecast: Brief forecast description
• detailed_forecast: Detailed forecast text
• grid_id, grid_x, grid_y: NWS grid identifiers

Color Coding

The web interface uses color coding optimized for ice climbing conditions:

Temperature:

• Dark Green: ≤20°F (Excellent - cold enough for solid ice)
• Green: 21-32°F (Good - freezing temps)
• Yellow: 33-40°F (Marginal - ice may be soft)
• Red: >40°F (Poor - ice melting)

Conditions:

• Dark Green: Snow only (Excellent - builds ice)
• Light Green: Clear/Sunny (Good - stable conditions)
• Yellow: Mixed rain/snow (Marginal)
• Red: Rain (Poor - melts ice)
• Gray: Cloudy/Neutral

Wind:

• Dark Green: ≤5 mph (Excellent - calm)
• Light Green: 6-10 mph (Good - light breeze)
• Yellow: 11-15 mph (Marginal)
• Red: >15 mph (Poor - dangerous conditions)

Data Source

Weather data is sourced from the National Weather Service API:

• Location: Franklin Falls, WA (47.4254, -121.4320)
• Grid: SEW/151,54
• Update frequency: Hourly
• Forecast range: 7 days

Future Enhancements

• Migration to PostgreSQL for production
• Add more ice climbing locations
• Implement data visualization (charts/graphs)
• Email/SMS alerts for optimal conditions
• Historical trend analysis
• Mobile-responsive improvements
• Dark mode toggle

License

This project is open source and available for personal use.

Acknowledgments

• Inspired by toorainy.com
• Weather data provided by the National Weather Service
• Franklin Falls is a popular ice climbing destination near Snoqualmie Pass, WA