Odumosu Matthew

Posted on Sep 21, 2023

Building a Complete Weather App from Scratch with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript: A Step-by-Step Guide

#javascript #beginners #learning #webdev

Creating a comprehensive weather app involves multiple steps, including fetching data from a weather API, designing the user interface, and handling user interactions. Here, we'll provide a step-by-step guide with code blocks on how to build a simple weather app using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Step 1: Set Up Your Environment

Before you start coding, make sure you have a code editor (e.g., Visual Studio Code) and a web browser installed on your computer.

Step 2: Design the HTML Structure

Create an HTML file (e.g., index.html) and define the basic structure of your weather app. You can use the following HTML code as a starting point:



<!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>
        <input type="text" id="locationInput" placeholder="Enter a city">
        <button id="searchButton">Search</button>
        <div class="weather-info">
            <h2 id="location"></h2>
            <p id="temperature"></p>
            <p id="description"></p>
        </div>
    </div>
    <script src="script.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Step 3: Style Your App

Create a CSS file (e.g., styles.css) to style your weather app. Here's a basic CSS code example:



body {
    font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
    background-color: #f0f0f0;
}

.container {
    max-width: 400px;
    margin: 0 auto;
    text-align: center;
    padding: 20px;
    background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5); /* Set the background color to be transparent */
    border-radius: 10px;
    box-shadow: 0 0 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3); /* Adjust the alpha value here for the box shadow transparency */
    margin-top: 105px;
}

h1 {
    font-size: 24px;
}

input[type="text"] {
    width: 100%;
    padding: 10px;
    margin: 10px 0;
    border: 1px solid #ccc;
    border-radius: 5px;
}

button {
    background-color: #007BFF;
    color: #fff;
    border: none;
    padding: 10px 20px;
    border-radius: 5px;
    cursor: pointer;
}

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

/* Add more styles as needed */

Step 4: Fetch Weather Data with JavaScript

Create a JavaScript file (e.g., script.js) to fetch weather data from a public weather API. We'll use the OpenWeatherMapAPI as an example. You'll need to sign up for a free API key from OpenWeatherMap.



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

const locationInput = document.getElementById('locationInput');
const searchButton = document.getElementById('searchButton');
const locationElement = document.getElementById('location');
const temperatureElement = document.getElementById('temperature');
const descriptionElement = document.getElementById('description');

searchButton.addEventListener('click', () => {
    const location = locationInput.value;
    if (location) {
        fetchWeather(location);
    }
});

function fetchWeather(location) {
    const url = `${apiUrl}?q=${location}&appid=${apiKey}&units=metric`;

    fetch(url)
        .then(response => response.json())
        .then(data => {
            locationElement.textContent = data.name;
            temperatureElement.textContent = `${Math.round(data.main.temp)}°C`;
            descriptionElement.textContent = data.weather[0].description;
        })
        .catch(error => {
            console.error('Error fetching weather data:', error);
        });
}

Step 5: Get Your API Key

Sign up for a free API key from OpenWeatherMap (or another weather API provider of your choice). Replace 'YOUR_API_KEY' in the JavaScript code with your actual API key.

Step 6: Test Your Weather App

Open your HTML file (index.html) in a web browser, enter a city name, and click the "Search" button. You should see the weather information displayed on the page.

I've added the background picture to the body element in the CSS style to beautify the weather app. Here's the updated code snippet with the background image included:



body {
  font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
    /* background-color: #f0f0f0; */

  background-image: url('weather1.webp');
  background-size: cover;
  background-position: center;
  background-repeat: no-repeat;
  height: 100vh; /* Set the height to fill the viewport */
  margin: 0; /* Remove default margin */
  padding: 0; 
}

Step 7: Deploy Your Weather App

To share your weather app with others, you can deploy it on a web hosting platform or use a service like GitHub Pages.

This is a basic example of a weather app. You can further enhance it by adding features like icons, more detailed weather information, and a five-day forecast. You can also improve the styling to make it more visually appealing.

LinkedIn Account : LinkedIn
Twitter Account: Twitter
Credit: Graphics sourced from Hackr.io

Top comments (16)

Chidimma Stanley • Sep 22 '23

Nice, I will try to build it using react

Odumosu Matthew • Sep 22 '23

Absolutely, using React can indeed lead to a more efficient and maintainable application. It provides a structured way to manage your app's state and UI components. I

Mafuzur Rahman • Sep 22 '23 • Edited

Recently I've also done this weather app for Fun.
here it is you can also check out this one.

Live link

I've used Nextjs, Typescript, and Axios.

Odumosu Matthew • Sep 22 '23

That sounds awesome! Weather apps are a great project to work on. I'd love to check out your version. Thanks for sharing the the live link . Could you share the GitHub repository link so I can take a look?

Mafuzur Rahman • Sep 22 '23

Sure here is the GitHub link: github.com/mahfuzurrahman01/weathe...

Punith K • Jul 23

Need complete code

Olivia73-code • Sep 24 '23

Thank you so much for sharing, I am on the CSS leg of my learning journey but I'm excited to try this app out locally in the future. This was easy to follow thank you.

Tarun2804 • Feb 13

it doesnot showing anything

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Document</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css">
</head>
<body>
    <div class="Container">
        <h1>Weather App</h1>
        <input type="text" id="locationInput" placeholder="Enter city name">
        <button id="searchButton">Search</button>
        <div class="weather-info">
            <h2>Location</h2>
            <p>Temperature</p>
            <p>Description</p>
        </div>

    </div>

    <script src="script.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

body {
font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;
background-color: aqua;
}

.Container {
max-width: 400px;
margin: 0 auto;
text-align: center;
padding: 20px;
background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);
border-radius: 10px;
box-shadow: 0 0 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3);
margin-top: 105px;
}
h1 {
font-size: 25px;
}
input[type="text"] {
width: 100%;
padding: 10px;
margin: 10px 0;
border: 1px solid #ccc;
border-radius: 5px;
}

button {
background-color: #007BFF;
color: #fff;
border: none;
padding: 10px 20px;
border-radius: 5px;
cursor: pointer;
}
.weather-info {
margin-top: 20px;
}

`
const apiKey = "6d7fa8bbc9d11323a4360290364f544d";
const apiUrl = "api.openweathermap.org/data/2.5/we...";

const locationInput = document.getElementById('locationInput');
const searchButton = document.getElementById('searchButton');
const locationElement = document.getElementById('location');
const temperatureElement = document.getElementById('temperature');
const descriptionElement = document.getElementById('description');

searchButton.addEventListener('click', () => {
const location = locationInput.value;
if (location) {
fetchWeather(location);
}
});

function fetchWeather(location) {
const url = ${apiUrl}?q=${location}&appid=${apiKey}&units=metric;

fetch(url)
    .then(response => response.json())
    .then(data => {
        locationElement.textContent = data.name;
        temperatureElement.textContent = `${Math.round(data.main.temp)}°C`;
        descriptionElement.textContent = data.weather[0].description;
    })
    .catch(error => {
        console.error('Error fetching weather data:', error);
    });

}
`
`

Dumebi Okolo • Sep 21 '23

Amazing!
But a screenshot of the finished work, or a link to it would be great.

Odumosu Matthew • Sep 22 '23

Thank you for the tip.I have now attached a screenshot of the finished work.

Dumebi Okolo • Sep 22 '23

Awesome.

Roland Taylor • Sep 21 '23

Great tutorial!

Like Dumebi, I would suggest including a screenshot or a codepen or similiar. You can even link to the code on Github/Gitlab/Gumroad, if you like!

Odumosu Matthew • Sep 22 '23

Thank you for the feedback! I'm glad you found the tutorial helpful. I've attached some screenshots, and I'll be sure to add the GitHub link before the day is over. Stay tuned for the link, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need further assistance.

João Angelo • Jul 8

Hi Odumosu Matthew,
Top, very nice!
Thanks for sharing.

Odumosu Matthew • Jul 8

Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm glad you found the guide helpful. If you have any questions or need further insights, feel free to reach out!