[Feature Request] Weather module: Expand support/features of the WeatherFlow provider

[PDStig]

Prerequisites

• I am running the latest version of MagicMirror², and know that this feature is not available now.
• I know my issue is not related to a third-party module.
• I have searched for existing issues that already include this feature request, without success.

Describe the Feature Request

I propose an expansion of the current weather module (and the WeatherFlow provider) to support real-time data (through the WebSocket API), lightning detection, precipitation amount for current, and battery.

Describe the Use Case

These features do not currently exist (either in the weather module itself or for the WeatherFlow provider).

• WebSockets: support real-time weather data (WeatherFlow: can send wind information every 3 seconds, and lightning data when detected)
• Lightning detection: the weather module does not currently support this at all. But I believe it is a critical safety feature to have (when supported) to know when a station has detected lightning.
• Precipitation amount (current): While I see it supported for hourly and daily, I don't see it implemented for current. It is supported in the WeatherFlow API.
• Battery: I think that this is just a QOL feature to know if your Tempest WeatherFlow station's battery is going bad. Normally, it always works unless you live in the far north/south with long periods of darkness.

Describe Preferred Solution

As typical and standard for the weather module and other default modules of MagicMirror.

The WebSocket feature may be tricky. It must be implemented through the Fetcher (or have its own "WSFetcher" class). But this could also come in handy for other modules.

Describe Alternatives

No response

Related Code

No response

Additional Information

I own a Tempest WeatherFlow station. I am willing to provide any first-party testing for the WeatherFlow provider necessary.

Participation

• I am willing to submit a pull request for this change.

[KristjanESPERANTO]

Thanks for the detailed feature request, and for offering to help test with a real Tempest station.

A quick status update from my side after digging into the code:

• Precipitation amount (current): this is now implemented in PR weather: fix UV index display and add WeatherFlow precipitation #4108. Once that PR is merged, this point should be covered.

• Lightning detection: WeatherFlow already includes lightning-related data in the current API response, so this part likely does not require WebSockets by default.
  The bigger question is: should the core weather module introduce shared lightning fields/UI, and do other providers expose comparable lightning data?

• Battery status: this is WeatherFlow-specific. It is not available via the currently used endpoint, so we would need an additional endpoint (or WebSocket data) plus provider-specific handling.

• WebSockets: definitely interesting, but also a much bigger architectural step. I’m not sure yet whether the complexity is worth it for a core module unless multiple providers can benefit in a similar way.

Maybe this might be better addressed as a third-party module.

What do you think?

[KristjanESPERANTO]

And it’s great to hear that someone is actively using Tempest. I put a lot of effort into this provider during the major weather refactor. I don’t own a Tempest station myself, but the manufacturer kindly provided test credentials, which made it possible to work on and validate this provider 🙂

[PDStig]

Hello! You are welcome. Here is my response to each point that you made:

• Precipitation Amount: Perfect! That should resolve the issue.
• Lightning detection: You're right (to an extent). The REST API returns the most recent lightning strike, its time, and its distance. I should have clarified that I didn't specifically mean to incorporate this using WebSockets. However, WS would give the added benefit of quicker lightning detection (the WS pushes an event as soon as a Tempest station detects and confirms a strike).
• Battery status: True. This would probably work better in a third-party app.
• WebSockets: While my suggestion was specific to WeatherFlow and the weather module, I think a WS Fetcher in general would be very beneficial for MagicMirror. Some modules (especially third-party modules) could utilize a WS for quick updates to data instead of pulling it regularly (or worse, refreshing the entire UI). And WebSockets need robust error handling (so it wouldn't be ideal for third-party modules to try their own WS implementation; it would be better for MagicMirror to provide an API that handles errors). If desired, I'll open this as a separate issue. However, I don't think I could contribute to this one (except for testing).

Yes, Tempest customer service is quite decent. They were able to help me resolve some issues when my Bridge stopped working correctly. They sent me a replacement at no cost when they couldn't resolve the issue. And there are thousands of WeatherFlow stations in the US. That was a good move, IMO, to add WeatherFlow.

I'm running the weather module right now. And it's actively pulling from my Tempest. The current temperature seems off by about 0.5 degrees. I wonder if some rounding is happening. I'll have to look at the raw API and see if Tempest is doing that. Otherwise, everything else seems to match. The UI for the current conditions could be improved. The icons on the top row seem a little messy. I can submit a separate issue for that if desired. I need to gather more information first so that I can make a detailed report.