# General information

AccuWeather's Forecasts API delivers daily, hourly, quarter-day, and minute-by-minute precipitation forecasts for any location worldwide. Forecasts are available in **more than 200 [languages and dialects](/developers/languages)**, in either imperial or metric units (`metric=true` for metric; imperial is the default).

All location-based forecasts (daily, hourly, quarter-day) require a **LocationKey**. Use the [Locations API](/developers/locations/guide) to look one up.

## Daily forecasts

Available durations: **1, 5, 10, 15, 25, 45 and 90 days**.

By default, the response includes a `headline` (effective date, severity, text), and per-day fields: date, temperature, day/night weather icon and phrase, plus mobile/web links. Pass `details=true` to unlock the full schema (RealFeel®, sun/moon, AirAndPollen, wind, humidity, and more).

→ See it in action: [5-Day Daily Forecast recipe](/recipes/daily-forecast)

## Hourly forecasts

Available durations: **1, 12, 24, 72 (~3 days), 120 (~5 days), and 240 hours (~10 days)**.

By default, each hour includes datetime, epoch datetime, weather icon, icon phrase, temperature, precipitation probability, `IsDaylight`, and mobile/web links. Pass `details=true` for the full schema (RealFeel®, wind, gust, humidity, UV index, cloud cover, and more).

→ See it in action: [Hourly Forecast recipe](/recipes/hourly-forecast)

## Quarter-day forecasts

Available durations: **1, 5, 10, and 15 days**, with each day broken into four quarters: **morning, afternoon, evening, and overnight**. Useful when you want more granularity than daily but less than hourly.

## MinuteCast™

Hyperlocal **minute-by-minute precipitation forecasts** for the next 120 minutes. Requires a latitude/longitude pair (truncated to two decimal places) — no LocationKey needed.

:::tip
MinuteCast™ is not available in all regions. Unsupported locations return an HTTP 400 response. **Cache these 400 responses for 72 hours** to reduce data consumption and prolong device battery life.
:::

## MinuteCast™ Premium

Higher-resolution MinuteCast™ at **1-minute, 5-minute, and 15-minute intervals**.

By default, each interval returns a summary, start datetime, start epoch datetime, minute index, dBZ value, and precipitation type. Pass `details=true` to also receive both a simplified and a full spectrum of colors associated with each minute's dBZ value.

The colors are also available as standalone endpoints — see `…/minute/colors…` (full spectrum) and `…/minute/colors/simple…` (simplified).