diff --git a/rowers/weather.py b/rowers/weather.py
index 4e9a74fd..5b51b9af 100644
--- a/rowers/weather.py
+++ b/rowers/weather.py
@@ -48,12 +48,17 @@ def get_metar_data(airportcode,unixtime):
 
     if s.ok:
         doc = etree.fromstring(s.content)
-        id = doc.xpath('data/METAR/station_id')[0].text
-        temp_c = doc.xpath('data/METAR/temp_c')[0].text
-        wind_dir = doc.xpath('data/METAR/wind_dir_degrees')[0].text
-        wind_speed = doc.xpath('data/METAR/wind_speed_kt')[0].text
-        timestamp = doc.xpath('data/METAR/observation_time')[0].text
-        rawtext = doc.xpath('data/METAR/raw_text')[0].text
+        try:
+            id = doc.xpath('data/METAR/station_id')[0].text
+            temp_c = doc.xpath('data/METAR/temp_c')[0].text
+            wind_dir = doc.xpath('data/METAR/wind_dir_degrees')[0].text
+            wind_speed = doc.xpath('data/METAR/wind_speed_kt')[0].text
+            timestamp = doc.xpath('data/METAR/observation_time')[0].text
+            rawtext = doc.xpath('data/METAR/raw_text')[0].text
+        except IndexError:
+            message = 'Failed to download METAR data'
+            return [0,0,message,'',timestamp]
+
 
         print temp_c,wind_dir,wind_speed