When Does Caching Start Hurting Instead of Helping? ?

The stale-while-revalidate pattern completely transformed how we handle cached weather data. Users get instant page loads from local memory while the server quietly fetches fresh payloads in the background. If a sudden rain alert drops, the UI updates seamlessly on the next cycle without lagging. For lightweight sites or widget integrations, checking out options like https://billing.meteoprog.com/informer helped us balance server load and live visualization nicely. My advice is to add a small "last updated" timestamp in the corner so users always know how fresh the data is.

Caching reduces API usage and improves response times, but it also increases the risk of serving outdated information. For weather applications, where do you usually draw that line? Have you found an approach that balances efficiency with keeping forecasts relevant for users?