Weather
Intro
Weather stores a forecast for the ship-to address on every shipment that matches your rules, and shows it on the shipment, in the timeline, and on printed documents. A packer deciding whether a livestock box needs a heat pack or a gel pack no longer has to open a weather site — the numbers are already on the packing slip.
The app is off by default for every store until you enable it in Settings.
Purpose
- See destination temperature and conditions while packing weather-sensitive goods
- Print low / high temperatures on packing slips and pickup slips
- Keep a record of the forecast at the time each shipment was packed
- Store forecasts for your own named addresses (warehouses, hubs) for documents
What is inside
| Page | What it does |
|---|---|
| Snapshots | Every forecast stored so far — destination and named-address |
| Rules | Which shipments get a forecast (product type, SKU, destination, …) |
| Tester | Fetch a forecast for an address or shipment without saving anything |
| Settings | Enable the app, choose a provider, set units and forecast days, manage named addresses |
Set up Weather
- Open Apps → Weather → Settings.
- Choose a Weather API. Open-Meteo needs no key and is the default. OpenWeatherMap, WeatherAPI.com, and Visual Crossing need an API key from your account with that provider.
- Set Units (°F or °C), Forecast days (1–7 days stored per snapshot), and Current forecast day (Today, Tomorrow, or Day after tomorrow — pick the day the parcel will actually be in transit / arrive).
- Turn on Enable Weather and Auto-fetch, then Save settings.
- Open Rules and add at least one rule (see below). Without an enabled matching rule, nothing is attached automatically.
- Try Tester with a real address to confirm the provider works.
Rules — which shipments get weather
Rules decide which shipments receive a forecast. They match on shipment and item attributes, not on the weather itself — every matching shipment gets its forecast regardless of temperature.
| Setting | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Name | e.g. Livestock shipments |
| Priority | Higher wins when several rules match |
| Match mode | All conditions (AND) or Any condition (OR) |
| Conditions | Leave empty to attach weather to every shipment |
| Enabled | Disabled rules are ignored |
Condition fields: Product type · Item name · SKU / item code · Vendor · Tag · Destination country · Destination state · Shipping method (name) · Item count · Order value
Operators: equals · not equals · contains · in (comma list) · exists · does not exist · greater than · greater or equal · less than · less or equal
Example: Product type contains Livestock — only live-animal shipments get a forecast.
When forecasts are fetched
With Enable Weather and Auto-fetch on, a matching shipment gets a forecast when it is:
- created by order sync or by hand
- merged or split
- given a new shipping address
Manual options (need the manage permission):
- Shipment detail → Weather card → refresh — fetch or refresh one shipment; works even if no rule matches
- Shipments list → select rows → Weather (or the ⋯ menu → Fetch weather) — queue up to 50 shipments at once
Forecasts for the same address are reused for the Cache (hours) window (default 6 hours) instead of calling the provider again. Manual refreshes always fetch fresh data.
Where weather appears
| Place | What you see |
|---|---|
| Shipment detail → Weather card | Day label, location, current temperature, condition, low–high, when it was fetched |
| Shipment timeline | A Weather activity such as Today · 72°F (60°F–80°F) · Partly cloudy · Austin, TX |
| Documents | Low / high on the default packing slip and local pickup slip; more variables under Advanced → Documents |
| Snapshots page | The full history across shipments |
There is no weather column or filter on the Shipments list, and no weather widget on the Dashboard.
Named addresses
Under Settings → Named addresses you can store your own locations (for example Memphis warehouse, key memphis). When Fetch address weather is on, active named addresses are refreshed whenever shipment weather runs, and become available in documents as addresses.memphis:
{{# addresses.memphis }}{{ low }}–{{ high }}{{ unit }}{{/ addresses.memphis }}
Use the cloud button beside an address to refresh it on demand.
Tester
Tester fetches a forecast using your saved provider and units, for either an existing shipment or a typed City / State / Postal code / Country. It shows current temperature, low–high, condition, and the daily forecast. Nothing is saved — use it to verify your API key or to check a destination before creating a rule.
Who can use it
- Plan: Weather is included on Enterprise. On other plans the app shows an Upgrade badge.
- Permissions: View weather to see snapshots and cards; Manage weather to change settings, rules, and refresh forecasts. Admins have both by default; Manager, Staff, and Viewer roles do not — add the permission under Collaboration → Roles for packers who should refresh forecasts.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Check |
|---|---|
| No snapshot on a new shipment | Enable Weather and Auto-fetch on? Does an enabled rule match? |
| Could not fetch weather | API key valid for the chosen provider; address has a city or postal code |
| Weather card missing | Plan includes Weather; your role has View weather; the Weather block is enabled in the shipment layout |
| Temperatures look stale | Snapshot was fetched at shipment creation — refresh before packing |
| Wrong day shown | Change Current forecast day in Settings (Today / Tomorrow / Day after tomorrow) |
Related
- Advanced → Packing Materials — heat packs and gel packs with costs
- Advanced → Documents — put the forecast on your slips
- Shipments → Labels & rates — the packing step where the forecast matters