Fetch weather API mock and write dashboard HTML in Python

This script fetches a mock weather API response as a Python dict, builds a simple HTML dashboard, writes it to a file, and prints both the file path and JSON payload.

Easy Python 3.9+ Aug 9, 2026 Automation & scripting 14 views 0 copies

weather-api dashboard html scripting

Python code

45 lines

Python 3.9+

from datetime import datetime
import json
import os


def fetch_weather_mock(city: str) -> dict:
    """Return a mock weather payload for a given city."""
    return {
        "city": city,
        "temperature_c": 21.5,
        "condition": "Partly Cloudy",
        "humidity": 58,
        "wind_kph": 12.3,
        "updated_at": datetime.utcnow().isoformat() + "Z",
    }


def build_dashboard_html(data: dict) -> str:
    """Build a simple weather dashboard HTML page from the data."""
    return f"""<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head><title>Weather - {data['city']}</title></head>
<body>
    <h1>Weather Dashboard</h1>
    <h2>{data['city']}</h2>
    <p><strong>Temperature:</strong> {data['temperature_c']}°C</p>
    <p><strong>Condition:</strong> {data['condition']}</p>
    <p><strong>Humidity:</strong> {data['humidity']}%</p>
    <p><strong>Wind:</strong> {data['wind_kph']} km/h</p>
    <p><small>Last updated: {data['updated_at']}</small></p>
</body>
</html>"""


if __name__ == "__main__":
    city = "Berlin"
    weather = fetch_weather_mock(city)
    html = build_dashboard_html(weather)

    output_path = "weather_dashboard.html"
    with open(output_path, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
        f.write(html)

    print(f"Dashboard written to {os.path.abspath(output_path)}")
    print(json.dumps(weather, indent=2))

Output

stdout

Dashboard written to /path/to/your/working/directory/weather_dashboard.html
{
  "city": "Berlin",
  "temperature_c": 21.5,
  "condition": "Partly Cloudy",
  "humidity": 58,
  "wind_kph": 12.3,
  "updated_at": "2025-01-01T12:34:56.789012Z"
}

How it works

The fetch_weather_mock function returns a dictionary mimicking a real weather API response, using datetime.utcnow().isoformat() + "Z" to generate a UTC timestamp in ISO 8601 format with a Z suffix (common in API payloads). The build_dashboard_html function uses an f-string to interpolate the city, temperature, condition, humidity, wind, and timestamp into a clean HTML structure. After generating the HTML string, the code writes it to a file using open with UTF-8 encoding to safely handle special characters like the degree symbol. The script then prints the absolute path to confirm the file was created and dumps the weather data as pretty-printed JSON for inspection.

Common mistakes

Using `datetime.utcnow()` which is deprecated in Python 3.12+; prefer `datetime.now(timezone.utc)` for timezone-aware timestamps.
Assuming the mock data structure matches a real API response — always validate field names and types when integrating a real endpoint.
Forgetting to close the file when manually writing — using a `with` block is safer and more idiomatic.

Variations

Use `requests.get()` to fetch real API data instead of the mock function, then pass the JSON response to `build_dashboard_html`.
Template the HTML using Jinja2 for more complex dashboards with loops, conditionals, and reusable components.

Real-world use cases

Scheduled jobs that generate a static HTML status page from API data and deploy it to a CDN or web server.
Automated reporting scripts that pull current conditions from a weather API and email an HTML digest to stakeholders.
Local monitoring tools that fetch metrics from internal services and write a self-contained HTML dashboard for quick manual inspection.

Fetch weather API mock and write dashboard HTML in Python

Python code

Output

How it works

Common mistakes

Variations

Real-world use cases

More from Automation & scripting

Tutorials

Quizzes

Python code

Output

How it works

Common mistakes

Variations

Real-world use cases

More from Automation & scripting

Keep learning

Tutorials

Quizzes