Home weather station suggestions

[jyoutz]

I have a LaCrosse station and am very happy with it. And their customer service is outstanding.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I haven’t seen Tempest mentioned yet. I don’t have one, but those that do really like them

Tempest Weather System

The Tempest Weather Station provides the most precise, local forecast available. Simple to install and completely wireless - get instant access to weather data.

shop.weatherflow.com

 

[Citydude]

I have a LaCrosse station and am very happy with it. And their customer service is outstanding.

Very accurate and dependable. We've had ours for 10 years.

 

[oosik]

I've have had a Davis Vantage Pro 2 for seven years. Works like a champ. It's wireless and solar recharging. Monitor is mounted on the wall right next to my computer.

 

[Oaktree]

I've have had a Davis Vantage Pro 2 for seven years. Works like a champ. It's wireless and solar recharging. Monitor is mounted on the wall right next to my computer.

My Ambient has solar cells on it, not sure if they're for keeping the batteries charged or for measuring intensity of daylight. I'm using lithium AAs in it, probably ought to swap them out before it gets too cold...they've been there a couple years.

 

[coldsteelva]

My Ambient has solar cells on it, not sure if they're for keeping the batteries charged or for measuring intensity of daylight. I'm using lithium AAs in it, probably ought to swap them out before it gets too cold...they've been there a couple years.

I think both. The solar cell on the top of the Ambient stations is to measure the solar intensity, but based on how long my batteries have lasted while maintaining wireless connectivity to the base station, it must use solar to power sensors when enough power is available. I'm not sure if anyone can confirm; I don't remember seeing it in the manual.

 

[lman]

The solar cell on my Acurite Atlas is just used to power a fan for accurate ambient temperatures.

 

[stuckmotor]

Are personal weather stations more accurate than putting your zipcode into a search for the forecast? If they are, maybe I should have one.

 

[Oaktree]

Are personal weather stations more accurate than putting your zipcode into a search for the forecast? If they are, maybe I should have one.

I guess it depends on where you live. We have a lot of micro-climate zones around here...our temperature can be 6-7° different than a half mile down the road, likewise we're a bit more sheltered from wind. Barometric pressure, etc. probably not so much.
I bought ours as a birthday present for my wife, she finds weather fascinating.

 

[oosik]

Personal weather station vs zipcode. Some times the zipcode temperature can be up to five or six degrees different. Either higher or lower.

My personal weather station is "nuts on" when checked against a very accurate mercury thermometer.

However - I've never had a condition where five or six degrees is going to make a world of difference anyhow.

 

[stuckmotor]

Oaktree and oosik,
Thank you for replying. I've considered buying one but always decided there are other things I need more. I think I'll hold off a while longer or until a more accurate forecast is more critical to my situation.

 

[ponytug]

Personal weather station vs zipcode. Some times the zipcode temperature can be up to five or six degrees different. Either higher or lower.

My personal weather station is "nuts on" when checked against a very accurate mercury thermometer.

However - I've never had a condition where five or six degrees is going to make a world of difference anyhow.

Well, actually...

That is the whole reason that I bought a weather station and put it online. We live in one of the few locations in the county that gets snow and black ice. So, the home ranch is often just below freezing and the rest of the area is 40F. We are on one of the highest points in the area, and the rest of the county can have a nice drizzle and we will get snow.

With an online weather station, we can check from the valley, and hightail it home if the conditions are deteriorating, so we can be tucked in safely with our livestock. On occasion, we have had to hike two miles or so downhill to get to drivable snow levels. (Just for the record, I grew up in snow country, and there is a slight difference between sliding off a road in the the flats into a ditch, and sliding off a road here and dropping two to six hundred feet. Well, OK, big difference if you value your life. The county roads are often cambered to shed rain, but serve to drop cars over the edge in the case of slippery conditions. Guardrails aren't a big thing. I know of one woman whose car dropped fifteen feet or so down a ravine, and she wasn't found for a week. She lived. Another fellow who dropped his car off another edge wasn't so lucky. A few years back, I saw one vehicle recovered that needed four tow trucks, with the cables added together to make a line long enough to retrieve the vehicle. 600'? We had seen the vehicle from miles away on a trail, and called it in; it wasn't visible from the road.)

@oosik I am glad a few degrees doesn't make a difference for you. We may yet someday move someplace where that is the case for us. At the moment, however...

All the best,

Peter

 

[rontaki]

Response to two posts - the solar cells on the Ambient Weather station serve to power the station when enough sunlight is available, and also charge a super-capacitor inside for other times. The batteries serve as backup for when there's not enough light, and the super-capacitor is discharged. Lithium AA batteries are great for this purpose. From Energizer's web site -

Nothing outlasts Energizer® Ultimate Lithium™ AA batteries. The Energizer® Ultimate Lithium™ batteries are not only the #1 longest-lasting AA batteries…they are complete with leak resistance and performance in extreme temperatures (-40ºF to 140ºF or -40ºC to 60ºC). To ensure your favorite devices operate at their peak performance, depend on Energizer® Ultimate Lithium™batteries for work, play and home.

Energizer Ultimate Lithium™ batteries are 100% leak proof*

-----
I chose to have a personal WS because, as stated above, the conditions at my property are significantly different than the nearest station reported on by Weather Underground and I want to know my weather!
Also, when I check my station remotely, especially when out of town, if I get a current reading I know that power and Internet are up. I don't take those for granted, having PGE for electricity. For those who don't know, PGE stands for Part-time Grid Energization.
-----
One last note - I also go to the National Weather Service web page - National Weather Service - and enter my zip code in the upper right hand of the page. On that page, there is a map displayed with an option to click your actual location. This gives you the conditions of the station closest to you.
In my case, it's much more aligned with what my own WS tells me than the "generic" readouts otherwise given.

 

[Spike56]

I have the Ambient WS-2902. Had for several years. Really like it for what it's worth.

 

[Popgadget]

I’ve got both a Davis Vantage Pro2 with datalogger and a Tempest.
I like them both, the Davis is well over a decade old, and has required some maintenance, but is very reliable. The newer datalogger serves as a web interface, I have to run a computer to download the data and post it to my own website as well as Weather UG and NOAA.
The Tempest is about two years old and has been replaced twice, promptly, and free of charge. The Weatherflow customer service is excellent. It has no inside display, but has its own app and web server making the data available to you anywhere. The outdoor station has no moving parts and should be very long lived. The only measurement that is suspect is rain, and it has been greatly improved.

Both stations are located on the same pole making comparisons pretty relevant.

 

[KWentling]

I’ve got both a Davis Vantage Pro2 with datalogger and a Tempest.
I like them both, the Davis is well over a decade old, and has required some maintenance, but is very reliable. The newer datalogger serves as a web interface, I have to run a computer to download the data and post it to my own website as well as Weather UG and NOAA.
The Tempest is about two years old and has been replaced twice, promptly, and free of charge. The Weatherflow customer service is excellent. It has no inside display, but has its own app and web server making the data available to you anywhere. The outdoor station has no moving parts and should be very long lived. The only measurement that is suspect is rain, and it has been greatly improved.

Both stations are located on the same pole making comparisons pretty relevant.

My Tempest reports about 2 1/2 times the actual rainfall. I have a Davis Vantage Vue that had been outstanding up until about 2 years ago when it started having certain wind events affect the rain tipper. The Davis is 15+ years old. I bought the Tempest as a double check of the rain fall. That was a big fail.

 

[civilian]

To answer the question above about weather stations at home versus zip code related forecasts: the weather stations I have seen only show current conditions and maybe past highs or lows, not forecasts for your area. Maybe that's just the cheap ones I had. Others might have forecasting capabilites. Jon

 

[ponytug]

To answer the question above about weather stations at home versus zip code related forecasts: the weather stations I have seen only show current conditions and maybe past highs or lows, not forecasts for your area. Maybe that's just the cheap ones I had. Others might have forecasting capabilites. Jon

Others do have forecasting abilities. Whether that ability beats out the supercomputers at NOAA and Wunderground is a different story. In my experience it doesn't.

YMMV...

All the best, Peter

 

[rontaki]

To answer the question above about weather stations at home versus zip code related forecasts: the weather stations I have seen only show current conditions and maybe past highs or lows, not forecasts for your area. Maybe that's just the cheap ones I had. Others might have forecasting capabilites. Jon

Ambient Weather does not forecast. I use the National Weather Service site, localized to my property as I explained previously.

 

[fatjay]