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[Hoho223]

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[Hoho223]

+1 on Weatherunderground, which is the reason that I bought a weather station in the first place.

All the best,

Peter

My go to weather source. App is all weather and nothing else.

 

[DaveD1944]

I have a Davis Vantage Pro2 wireless with an additional Vantage VUE console in the kitchen. It's nine or ten years old now and has given only a bit of trouble over the years, mostly the anemometer going bad and some problems adjusting the rain bucket. I use CumulusMX (a free open source program) to gather the data on a Windows PC next to the Pro2 console and upload it to WUnderground (my station is KVAOILVI2 if you want to take a look) as well as storing it on the PC. I am completely satisfied with it and with Davis support.

I bought my son an Ambient weather station for less than $200 a couple years ago and it has turned him into a weather nut. It too has performed flawlessly and is also supported by CumulusMX. (I suggest that you check out CumulusMX. It has a nice graphical display and many other features; it is much more robust than the Davis application.)

However, there is a major difference between Davis and most of the other weather stations available. That is, when recording weather through CumulusMX (and perhaps otherwise as well) the Davis will provide updates every 2.5 seconds or so; with the Ambient it is 16 seconds to the console,60 seconds using CumulusMX. So the Davis provides near real-time weather conditions. This matters to me, in part for personal safety reasons. In 1993 I bought a Texas Weather Instruments weather station that gave real-time weather information, instantaneous. That station has been failing for several years now and I had to replace it, which I did with a repurposed Android 10 inch tablet, dedicated to an app that my son wrote, and now sitting in front of the old TWI console and providing the same and additional information. Some of this is important, e.g., current wind speed and maximum gust, and I got used to seeing this and reacting to it over the years. I can see it again. My son is not so privileged with his Ambient, as he can see only the slow updates.

I suppose that real-time weather is not important to most people and I, like most, can and do get forecasts online and historical data with both WU and my weather station. But if you do want the option of real-time display of weather conditions, a Davis (and perhaps others, but I haven't run across them) will provide that.

My son's app runs flawlessly, but is in a Beta form. He may distribute it when he puts in more features, like a wind circle. Right now it is purely digital.

 

[Grumpycat]

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

Not more accurate for a forecast.

What they will do is show you the difference between what the forecast guessed would happen vs what actually happened. My temperature is often 5° off what the weather services say it should be. Rainfall similarly off.

I have been on Wunderground for decades. Greatly deteriorated when IBM purchased. However one can still make good use of their map of nearby PWS reporting to see how temperature and rainfall can vary a good bit in a short distance.

 

[Grumpycat]

The common Acurite Iris 5-in-1 outdoor sensor uses plastic which is not really up to handling UV. After a few years the plastic becomes brittle. The airspeed paddles are most likely to break if something taps them. Acurite sells replacement parts but at some point one questions the value of replacing a $15 airspeed impeller (plus pricey shipping) vs throwing it away in favor of another brand. Perhaps the "professional" Atlas is better? It uses the same Access internet gateway.

Weather Underground and Acurite are the only two websites an Acurite can post reports. Requires the Acurite Access module (ethernet only, no WiFi) so if buying make sure your bundle includes that and not the software package which requires a PC running (not sleeping) 24/7. Acurite now has a display with WiFi built in, I am not familiar with it.

Some have complained about need to clean the rain gauge on various models. I have gone 10 years without having to clean my Iris then in recent years have had to clean it every few weeks from cobwebs. Spiders got inside and tie up the rain teeter-totter. And/or the fan blades which keep air moving for accurate temperature and humidity.

Solar panel on the Iris only powers the internal fan. 4-AA Energizer lithium batteries power my outside sensor for several years.

I'd like to have a Tempest but their woke climate change propaganda turns me off.

 

[TxSteveS]

I've gone through a few years back - None lasted more than a year or 2 until I ended up spending more than I wanted on a Davis Instruments Vantage Vue. This was probably 10 years ago.

It's still going.

Clean it and swap out the battery every couple years. It has exceptional range and fast refreshing. Mine is set up up about 100 yards from the receiver and it's bulletproof.

If you go that route, consider skipping the console and get the version that comes with Weatherlink Live. If you have the console already, get a Wifi Logger (WiFiLogger - the finest data logger). Again - cheaper and better than the Davis version.

All that said - also look at the Tempest. It's looking good. I'd seriously consider it if I was replacing mine.

The only downside that I've heard about is inaccurate rain measurement. The hepatic just seems to not be as accurate as the tipping cup.

Good luck!

 

[tjandrews]

The common Acurite Iris 5-in-1 outdoor sensor uses plastic which is not really up to handling UV. After a few years the plastic becomes brittle. The airspeed paddles are most likely to break if something taps them. Acurite sells replacement parts but at some point one questions the value of replacing a $15 airspeed impeller (plus pricey shipping) vs throwing it away in favor of another brand. Perhaps the "professional" Atlas is better? It uses the same Access internet gateway.

Weather Underground and Acurite are the only two websites an Acurite can post reports. Requires the Acurite Access module (ethernet only, no WiFi) so if buying make sure your bundle includes that and not the software package which requires a PC running (not sleeping) 24/7. Acurite now has a display with WiFi built in, I am not familiar with it.

Some have complained about need to clean the rain gauge on various models. I have gone 10 years without having to clean my Iris then in recent years have had to clean it every few weeks from cobwebs. Spiders got inside and tie up the rain teeter-totter. And/or the fan blades which keep air moving for accurate temperature and humidity.

Solar panel on the Iris only powers the internal fan. 4-AA Energizer lithium batteries power my outside sensor for several years.

I'd like to have a Tempest but their woke climate change propaganda turns me off.

My experience with the Accurite 3-in-1 sensor wasn't so rosy. It's not solar-powered, and used to eat the 4 AA lithium batteries for breakfast. Had to replace them every 3-4 months. Eventually, the temperature sensor stopped reporting anything. After a bit of investigation on the Interwebs, I discovered this is very common. It seems that Accurite didn't build the outdoor sensor to be put outdoors all the time. Leaks and internal corrosion are very common. There are Youtube videos on how to repair it, and a new sensor is available on Amazon for $50, but there would still be the battery problem.
I replaced it with a more elaborate system, solar-powered sensor. It was on a clearance sale on Amazon, a discontinued model. Some brand I never heard of, but the sensor design reminded me of photos of Ambient sensors. Big mistake to buy that one. After about a week, the wind speed started giving impossible readings, and they only got worse. Amazon took it back for a full refund.
I replaced that with a LaCrosse model. That one is working OK, but isn't perfect. I never did get the base station to connect to my router via wifi, and three times now heavy rain has resulted in the base dropping the connection with the sensor, and to get it back I had to cycle the sensor's on-off switch. But, I didn't really need the wifi capability anyway, I haven't needed to replace any batteries, and the readings have seemed accurate, so I'm good with it. For now.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

I also live in a micro climate. On the east ridge of a valley that runs N/S, as well as an intersecting valley running NNW/ SSE.
Rain half mile away, us, snow or sleet. And the winds, almost always at least a breeze here.
Forecast is in Burlington, 2 hours away. Even the temp maps for my area are at least 5* off, sometimes 10.
Limited internet off of phone.
Right now, using a cheapo unit that only shows indoor and outdoor temp. Both right on.
Using internet forecast is only for general area, as zip code covers a few towns. (limited PO around here)

Still looking for an accurate forecast option for where I live...

 

[Buzzard7]

My home weather station has quit working and I'm looking to replace it. My original was just a cheap-ish Accurite. Without going all out with a professional model, does anyone have a recommendation for a decent one?

I don't mind spending some money (up to maybe $300) if it will last a while.

I have and Oregon Scientific brand for my house. I don't like it. Very hard to reset the various inputs after changing the batteries. Usually takes me about an hour - all hit and miss.

 

[Buzzard7]

Hilarious.