Weather (.w / .wz / .wzset)#

Xerokewl fetches current conditions and (for non-METAR lookups) a short forecast. These commands work both in channel and as a private message (/msg Xerokewl <command>).

<you> .wz 94025
<Xerokewl> San Mateo, CA — 62°F (17°C), partly cloudy. …

Commands#

.w and .wz are aliases — same command. You can type either.

Flags#

• --metar — raw aviation weather (METAR). Requires an ICAO code (e.g. .wz --metar KSFO). Anything else is rejected: --metar is only valid with ICAO codes (e.g. KSFO). Location not saved.
• --metric — show metric first, imperial second. (This is the default.)
• --imperial — show imperial first, metric second.
• Use --metric/--imperial with .wzset to change your saved default units.

Location formats#

ICAO codes (like KSFO) only work with --metar. For ordinary weather use the IATA code instead (e.g. SFO, not KSFO).

Finding an Ambient Weather station#

The Ambient Weather Network is a live map of privately-owned weather stations. Any station there can be a location for .w/.wz — handy when the nearest official station is miles off and you want readings from a station down the road.

To grab a station’s URL:

1. Open ambientweather.net.
2. Search for your area in the location box, or click Find My Location.
3. Each dot on the map with a temperature next to it is a station. Click the one you want — it loads in the station list on the right.
4. In that list, click View Dashboard.
5. Copy the dashboard URL from your browser’s address bar. It looks like https://ambientweather.net/dashboard/ followed by a 32-character slug.

Then use it as the location — the full URL, or just the 32-character slug on its own, both work:

<you> .wz https://ambientweather.net/dashboard/0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef
<Xerokewl> PWS: Backyard Station, San Mateo, CA :: 17.0C/62.0F (Feels like 16.0C/61.0F) …

Save it as your default with .wzset <URL or slug>.

Saving a default (.wzset)#

.wzset <location> saves a default so a bare .w / .wz returns your weather without typing the location every time. Your default is stored against your eggdrop handle — which is why you have to be registered for it to work.

<you> .wzset 94025
<Xerokewl> Preference updated. Default is now 94025 --imperial
<you> .w
<Xerokewl> San Mateo, CA — …   (uses your saved default + units)

You can also save a METAR default: .wzset --metar KSFO.

Getting registered#

The single most common confusion: you run .wzset, or a bare .w, and the bot tells you you’re “not registered”. Here’s what that means and the exact path to fix it.

The bot doesn’t auto-add users — every user record is created by hand by a botmaster. So to save a default, you need a record. Here’s how to get one:

1. Ask a channel operator (chanop) to add you. If the op you ask isn’t a botmaster, they can find one on the bot partyline — see the chanop cheat sheet.
2. A botmaster creates your record with .+user <handle> <hostmask> — see the botmaster cheat sheet. You’ll be non-privileged by default (no flags), and that’s fine — you don’t need any flags to save weather preferences, just a record.
3. The bot should now recognize you by your hostmask. If it doesn’t (your IP/host changed — dynamic ISP, VPN, travel), ident — that re-matches you to your handle and saves your current host for next time — see the eggdrop cheat sheet.
4. Now .wzset <location> works, and a bare .w / .wz uses your saved default.

You don’t have to wait to be registered to use weather at all — .wz <location> (with a location) works for anyone, no record needed. Getting registered is only required for saving a default and using the bare .w / .wz form.

The bot is a pass-through, not the data source#

Xerokewl pulls data from upstream providers — WeatherAPI, AVWX (METAR), the Ambient Weather Network, and APRS/CWOP — and does not generate or control any of it. A wrong temperature, a stale METAR, a station that’s down, or a “location not found” that you know exists — that’s the upstream provider, not the bot. There’s nothing to “fix” on the bot side; try a different location format (ZIP vs city vs IATA) or wait for the provider to update. (Same idea as the search bot — blame the source, not the messenger.)

Error messages#

Run .wzhelp in channel or /msg Xerokewl wzhelp any time for the command list.