diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 7934d65..22ad203 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ Parameters:
 	- **units** - (optional) A string of the preferred units of measurement, "auto" is the default. "us","ca","uk","si" are also available. See the API Docs (https://darksky.net/dev/docs/forecast) for exactly what each unit means.
 	- **lazy** - (optional) Defaults to `false`.  If `true` the function will request the json data as it is needed. Results in more requests, but maybe a faster response time.
 	- **callback** - (optional) Pass a function to be used as a callback. If used, load_forecast() will use an asynchronous HTTP call and **will not return the forecast object directly**, instead it will be passed to the callback function. Make sure it can accept it.
+	- **timeout** - (optional) The timeout in seconds. (Defaults to 3 seconds)
 
 ----------------------------------------------------
 
@@ -196,4 +197,4 @@ Be caerful, things can get confusing when doing something like the below. Given
 
 The result is actually a request for the weather in the future in Amsterdam (by 6 hours). In addition, since all returned times are in UTC, it will report a time two hours behind the *local* time in Amsterdam.
 
-If you're doing lots of queries in the past/future in different locations, the best approach is to consistently use UTC time. Keep in mind ``datetime.datetime.utcnow()`` is **still a naive datetime**. To use proper timezone aware datetime objects you will need to use a library like `pytz <http://pytz.sourceforge.net/>`_ 
+If you're doing lots of queries in the past/future in different locations, the best approach is to consistently use UTC time. Keep in mind ``datetime.datetime.utcnow()`` is **still a naive datetime**. To use proper timezone aware datetime objects you will need to use a library like `pytz <http://pytz.sourceforge.net/>`_
diff --git a/forecastio/api.py b/forecastio/api.py
index 6578fa2..74a0e19 100644
--- a/forecastio/api.py
+++ b/forecastio/api.py
@@ -3,26 +3,28 @@
 
 from forecastio.models import Forecast
 
+CONST_TIMEOUT = 3.0
 
-def load_forecast(key, lat, lng, time=None, units="auto", lang="en", lazy=False,
-                  callback=None):
+
+def load_forecast(key, lat, lng, time=None, units="auto", lang="en",
+                  lazy=False, callback=None, timeout=CONST_TIMEOUT):
     """
         This function builds the request url and loads some or all of the
         needed json depending on lazy is True
 
-        inLat:  The latitude of the forecast
-        inLong: The longitude of the forecast
-        time:   A datetime.datetime object representing the desired time of
-               the forecast. If no timezone is present, the API assumes local
-               time at the provided latitude and longitude.
-        units:  A string of the preferred units of measurement, "auto" id
-                default. also us,ca,uk,si is available
-        lang:   Return summary properties in the desired language
-        lazy:   Defaults to false.  The function will only request the json
-                data as it is needed. Results in more requests, but
-                probably a faster response time (I haven't checked)
+        inLat:   The latitude of the forecast
+        inLong:  The longitude of the forecast
+        time:    A datetime.datetime object representing the desired time of
+                 the forecast. If no timezone is present, the API assumes local
+                 time at the provided latitude and longitude.
+        units:   A string of the preferred units of measurement, "auto" id
+                 default. also us,ca,uk,si is available
+        lang:    Return summary properties in the desired language
+        lazy:    Defaults to false.  The function will only request the json
+                 data as it is needed. Results in more requests, but
+                 probably a faster response time (I haven't checked)
+        timeout: The timeout in seconds. Defaults to 3 seconds.
     """
-
     if time is None:
         url = 'https://api.darksky.net/forecast/%s/%s,%s' \
               '?units=%s&lang=%s' % (key, lat, lng, units, lang)
@@ -38,25 +40,25 @@ def load_forecast(key, lat, lng, time=None, units="auto", lang="en", lazy=False,
     else:
         baseURL = url
 
-    return manual(baseURL, callback=callback)
+    return manual(baseURL, callback=callback, timeout=timeout)
 
 
-def manual(requestURL, callback=None):
+def manual(requestURL, callback=None, timeout=CONST_TIMEOUT):
     """
         This function is used by load_forecast OR by users to manually
         construct the URL for an API call.
     """
 
     if callback is None:
-        return get_forecast(requestURL)
+        return get_forecast(requestURL, timeout)
     else:
         thread = threading.Thread(target=load_async,
-                                  args=(requestURL, callback))
+                                  args=(requestURL, callback, timeout))
         thread.start()
 
 
-def get_forecast(requestURL):
-    forecastio_reponse = requests.get(requestURL)
+def get_forecast(requestURL, timeout=CONST_TIMEOUT):
+    forecastio_reponse = requests.get(requestURL, timeout=timeout)
     forecastio_reponse.raise_for_status()
 
     json = forecastio_reponse.json()
@@ -65,5 +67,5 @@ def get_forecast(requestURL):
     return Forecast(json, forecastio_reponse, headers)
 
 
-def load_async(url, callback):
-    callback(get_forecast(url))
+def load_async(url, callback, timeout=CONST_TIMEOUT):
+    callback(get_forecast(url, timeout=timeout))