Weather Instruments

In today’s world of digital technology, with instant access to up-to-the-minute data, forecasts, and images from the National Weather Service (NWS) satellites and countless other online sources, with timely reports from local broadcasters and cable television networks, with personalized forecasts and storm alerts sent directly to your email, pager, or cell phone, you may ask: “why would I need a home weather station”.

Answer: look out into your front yard or backyard: the weather conditions you experience at home are often not the same as any of those resources might suggest. We know that all too well living here in southern California, as weather conditions in the mountains can be completely different from those down in the valleys and basins. Local public safety agencies recognize the importance of on-site professional weather stations too, relying on them to provide timely and often critical weather information for emergencies and during times of severe weather. In addition, airports, schools, utility companies, agricultural businesses, as well as a host of others utilize professional weather stations to monitor their local weather conditions; an important and necessary tool for their organizations.

Whether simple or elaborate, personal weather stations will provide you with information that can’t be obtained anywhere else. Cable-free (or wireless) weather stations or wired home weather stations are high-tech, affordable, and fun to use. And having the ability to glance over at your home weather station console from the comfort of your sofa or bed isn’t only convenient, but fascinating as well.

A home weather station usually includes a clock; some also display the current moon phase. Basic weather stations offer features such as inside and outside temperature and humidity and atmospheric pressure. Complete weather stations can also monitor wind and rainfall, as well as calculate dew point, heat index, and wind chill. The more advanced professional weather stations offer additional features such as faster sampling rates, extensive data graphing and history, and sensors ranging from ultraviolet, solar radiation to soil temperature, soil moisture, and leaf wetness. Many are also capable of calculating evapotranspiration, an important factor for agricultural concerns.

Many folks are naturally curious about weather and – apart from the practical benefits of personal weather stations -- the information that they provide, combined with additional relevant study, can offer individuals a rewarding lifelong hobby. Most have discovered that their home weather station has given them a better understanding of weather, which has heightened their interest in other aspects of the natural world. After all, weather observation is not just confined to where you live. At the very least, you will improve your weather-forecasting skills to the point where it will help you to avoid setting off on an outing that could potentially be compromised by an unexpected change in the weather.

Things to Consider Before Buying a Home Weather Station

Weather Variables: This is the single most important criteria before buying commercial weather stations since the type of weather measurements (variables) you wish to monitor will determine if you should be looking for a basic personal weather station (temperature, humidity, barometric pressure) or a complete professional weather station (wind, rain, and more). You also need to consider how a unit's indoor console displays this data.

Price/Cost: How much you are willing to spend on a home weather station? This factor that will influence all of the factors that remain. Generally, the more money you are willing to invest in a personal weather station the better. Nevertheless, comparing specifications is definitely necessary because the cliche "you get what you pay for" is not always true.

Installation of Home Weather Stations: The location you plan want to install your personal weather station needs to be carefully evaluated, taking into account the distance from the indoor display console out to where the sensors are located. For cabled weather stations, the length of the cable that comes with the unit will determine the maximum distance. Some Home Weather Station manufacturers offer extension cables for their cabled weather stations. Wireless home weather stations have a maximum "unobstructed" or "line of sight" range rating, which is diminished by the type and number of building materials the signal must penetrate. For a typical installation this is 1/2 to 1/3 the distance of the unobstructed range rating. Interference sources should also be taken into account when installing wireless weather stations. The altitude (elevation) where your weather station is going to be installed may also be an issue. Many weather stations are limited to operating at 6,000 feet or below with regard to accurate barometer readings.

Accuracy, Resolution and Range: are critical factors when selecting the best weather stations. Accuracy is how close the displayed measurement reading is to the actual (true) measurement value (e.g. ±1°F for temperature). Resolution is the smallest increment that the unit is capable of measuring and displaying (e.g. 0.1°F for temperature). Range is the minimum and maximum limits the unit is capable of measuring within (e.g. -40°F to +150°F for temperature).

Update Interval: Rate at which the personal weather station updates the display. Update intervals may vary significantly between units: anywhere from once per second to as little as once every three minutes or even longer. Watching the wind data change every three minutes during a variably windy day, or likewise the rain data during a heavy rainfall, may tax your patience – so choose as fast a weather station as you can afford.

Weather Forecasting: If available, many commercial weather stations base their forecast on the barometric pressure trend (rising or falling), which isn’t usually as accurate as taking other variables into account. The more sophisticated professional weather stations takes into account not only barometric pressure, but also wind, rainfall, temperature humidity, and even the latitude and longitude of the station, resulting in a much more accurate forecast.

Historical Data: Most basic weather stations and cheaper complete weather stations display current data and very little ”historical data” -- perhaps the high and low readings for a period of time (often between manual resets). Weather stations that feature barometric pressure often include a graphic display of the trend for the past 24 hours. More extensive historical data retention is usually only available in a high-end professional weather station. For example, the Davis Vantage Pro2 series can display the highs and lows (and/or totals or averages) for nearly every weather variable for the last 24 hours, days, months, or years!

Computer Interface: Connecting a weather station to your computer opens up a world of possibilities in home-weather forecasting. But, you will most likely need to purchase a complete (and costlier) weather station, not all of which offer that capability or option. With computer-based weather stations and tools (e.g., interface and software), you can record and graphically display weather variables at an interval that's typically user selectable. Depending on the software you can make forecasts, graph weather trends, post data on the internet, or even send email alerts. Some manufacturers include a "data logger," which has a built-in memory to store weather data for later retrieval. Hence, you can leave your computer off – hooking up the weather station only when you want to upload data.

Home Weather Station -- Product Reviews: A great deal of information on home weather stations is available on the internet. Use Google or Yahoo to search for reviews of the models or brands you're interested in.