okay, i changed the forumhome_weather template to:
Code:
<!-- Weather -->
<br>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" bgcolor="#0A293E" width="95%" align="center"><tr><td>
<table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1" border="0" width="100%">
<tr id="cat">
<td bgcolor="#336D95" background="https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/images/catagory_backing.gif" colspan="5"><a href="weather.php?s=$session[sessionhash]&action=getdata"><normalfont color="#000000"><b>Check the Weather</b></normalfont></a></td>
</tr>
<tr id="cat">
<td bgcolor="#1D6AA0" width="100%" align="left" colspan="5"><smallfont color="#EEEEFF">Time of last weather update: $weather[updatedate] at $weather[updatetime]</smallfont></td>
</table>
</td></tr></table>
<!-- /Weather -->
now my index.php loads quickly and only registered users can check the weather, since they have to click on "Check the Weather" category (which brings them to the weather.php.. etc.)