diff --git a/siphon/simplewebservice/ndbc.py b/siphon/simplewebservice/ndbc.py
index 5123180e5..df043724e 100644
--- a/siphon/simplewebservice/ndbc.py
+++ b/siphon/simplewebservice/ndbc.py
@@ -58,7 +58,11 @@ def realtime_observations(cls, buoy, data_type='txt'):
                    'dart': endpoint._parse_dart,
                    'supl': endpoint._parse_supl,
                    'rain': endpoint._parse_rain}
-        endpoint = cls()
+
+        if data_type not in parsers:
+            raise KeyError('Data type must be txt, drift, cwind, spec, ocean, srad, dart,'
+                           'supl, or rain for parsed realtime data.')
+
         raw_data = endpoint.raw_buoy_data(buoy, data_type=data_type)
         return parsers[data_type](raw_data)
 
@@ -76,7 +80,6 @@ def _parse_met(content):
             :class:`pandas.DataFrame` containing the data
 
         """
-        widths = [4, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 3, 6, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 5]
         col_names = ['year', 'month', 'day', 'hour', 'minute',
                      'wind_direction', 'wind_speed', 'wind_gust',
                      'wave_height', 'dominant_wave_period', 'average_wave_period',
diff --git a/siphon/tests/test_ndbc.py b/siphon/tests/test_ndbc.py
index fb3f5b5ff..f53c5ebe8 100644
--- a/siphon/tests/test_ndbc.py
+++ b/siphon/tests/test_ndbc.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 import numpy as np
 from numpy.testing import assert_almost_equal, assert_equal
+import pytest
 
 from siphon.simplewebservice.ndbc import NDBC
 from siphon.testing import get_recorder
@@ -281,3 +282,9 @@ def test_ndbc_buoy_data_types():
              'swr2': 'spectral wave data (r2)',
              'supl': 'supplemental measurements data'}
     assert(resp == truth)
+
+
+def test_ndbc_realtime_keyerror():
+    """Ensure an error is raised for invalid parsed data type requests."""
+    with pytest.raises(KeyError):
+        NDBC.realtime_observations('41002', data_type='dartt')
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