Weather App: Complete Step-by-Step Guide

Screenshot:-

In this project, we'll create a weather app that fetches and displays current weather data and a 5-day forecast from a public API. We'll also add search functionality and enhance the UI with icons and animations. By the end of this project, you'll have a fully functional and visually appealing weather app. Let's get started!

Activity 1: Setting Up the Project

Task 1: Initialize a New Project Directory and Set Up Basic HTML Structure

Create a new directory for your project.
Inside the directory, create an index.html file with the following basic structure:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Weather App</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css">
</head>
<body>
    <div class="container">
        <h1>Weather App</h1>
        <div class="weather-info">
            <p id="city-name"></p>
            <p id="temperature"></p>
            <p id="weather-condition"></p>
        </div>
        <div class="search">
            <input type="text" id="city-input" placeholder="Enter city name">
            <button id="search-button">Search</button>
        </div>
        <div class="forecast">
            <!-- 5-day forecast will be displayed here -->
        </div>
    </div>
    <script src="app.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Task 2: Add Basic CSS

Create a styles.css file to style your app:

body {
    font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
    background-color: #f0f0f0;
    display: flex;
    justify-content: center;
    align-items: center;
    height: 100vh;
    margin: 0;
}

.container {
    background-color: #fff;
    padding: 20px;
    border-radius: 10px;
    box-shadow: 0 0 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);
    text-align: center;
}

.weather-info, .search, .forecast {
    margin-top: 20px;
}

#city-input {
    padding: 10px;
    width: 200px;
}

#search-button {
    padding: 10px;
}

Activity 2: Fetching Weather Data

Task 3: Fetch Current Weather Data

Sign up for an API key from OpenWeatherMap.
In app.js, write a function to fetch weather data:

const apiKey = 'YOUR_API_KEY';
const apiUrl = 'https://api.openweathermap.org/data/2.5/weather';

async function getWeather(city) {
    const response = await fetch(`${apiUrl}?q=${city}&appid=${apiKey}&units=metric`);
    const data = await response.json();
    console.log(data);
}

getWeather('London');

Task 4: Display Current Weather Data

Update the getWeather function to display the data on the webpage:

async function getWeather(city) {
    const response = await fetch(`${apiUrl}?q=${city}&appid=${apiKey}&units=metric`);
    const data = await response.json();
    document.getElementById('city-name').textContent = data.name;
    document.getElementById('temperature').textContent = `${data.main.temp}°C`;
    document.getElementById('weather-condition').textContent = data.weather[0].description;
}

getWeather('Jaipur');

Activity 3: Adding Search Functionality

Task 5: Add Input Field and Search Button

The input field and search button are already added in the HTML structure.

Task 6: Fetch and Display Weather Data for Searched City

Add an event listener to the search button:

document.getElementById('search-button').addEventListener('click', () => {
    const city = document.getElementById('city-input').value;
    getWeather(city);
});

Activity 4: Displaying a 5-Day Forecast

Task 7: Fetch 5-Day Weather Forecast

Add a function to fetch the 5-day forecast:

const forecastUrl = 'https://api.openweathermap.org/data/2.5/forecast';

async function getForecast(city) {
    const response = await fetch(`${forecastUrl}?q=${city}&appid=${apiKey}&units=metric`);
    const data = await response.json();
    console.log(data);
}

getForecast('London');

Task 8: Display 5-Day Forecast Data

Update the getForecast function to display the forecast:

async function getForecast(city) {
    const response = await fetch(`${forecastUrl}?q=${city}&appid=${apiKey}&units=metric`);
    const data = await response.json();
    const forecastContainer = document.querySelector('.forecast');
    forecastContainer.innerHTML = '';

    for (let i = 0; i < data.list.length; i += 8) {
        const forecast = data.list[i];
        const date = new Date(forecast.dt_txt).toLocaleDateString();
        const temp = forecast.main.temp;
        const condition = forecast.weather[0].description;

        const forecastElement = document.createElement('div');
        forecastElement.className = 'forecast-item';
        forecastElement.innerHTML = `
            <p>${date}</p>
            <p>${temp}°C</p>
            <p>${condition}</p>
        `;

        forecastContainer.appendChild(forecastElement);
    }
}

Activity 5: Enhancing the UI

Task 9: Add Icons for Weather Conditions

Use weather icons from OpenWeatherMap or another source. Update the getWeather and getForecast functions to include icons:

async function getWeather(city) {
    const response = await fetch(`${apiUrl}?q=${city}&appid=${apiKey}&units=metric`);
    const data = await response.json();
    document.getElementById('city-name').textContent = data.name;
    document.getElementById('temperature').textContent = `${data.main.temp}°C`;
    document.getElementById('weather-condition').textContent = data.weather[0].description;
    document.getElementById('weather-icon').src = `http://openweathermap.org/img/w/${data.weather[0].icon}.png`;
}

// Add <img id="weather-icon" src="" alt="Weather Icon"> in the HTML structure for the weather icon.

Task 10: Add CSS Animations or Transitions

Enhance the UI with animations:

.container {
    transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;
}

.container:hover {
    transform: scale(1.05);
}

.forecast-item {
    animation: fadeIn 1s ease-in-out;
}

@keyframes fadeIn {
    from {
        opacity: 0;
    }
    to {
        opacity: 1;
    }
}

Conclusion

By following these steps, you will have created a weather app that:

Fetches and displays current weather data.
Allows users to search for weather information by city name.
Displays a 5-day weather forecast.
Enhances the user interface with icons and animations.

This project helps you practice setting up a project structure, using the fetch API, and improving UI design with CSS. Good luck, and enjoy coding your weather app!

Building a Weather App: Step-by-Step Guide