Whether you are looking to monitor the weather for fun or need reliable information to prepare, properly selecting a home weather station is not easy. Buying a home weather station includes many decisions. First, different types of stations are available on the market depending on your needs and budget. Second, you must choose which kind of technology each station employs since each has its plus points and disadvantages. Weather forecasts are more accurate these days but still have limitations that may require expert interpretation. Hand-held devices will work well enough for many people who want some basic information about conditions in their area.
- Basic Stations- With this type of home weather station, installing an outdoor unit on the roof or the outside wall of your home is usually necessary. Then an indoor unit displays the information. One advantage of this type is that it offers a more detailed and possibly customizable forecast than you normally get through weather forecasts.
- Personal Stations- You can also use this station to pinpoint what you need to know about the conditions in your area without needing any outside equipment. These stations typically give you very specific information and forecasts, but they do not always offer as much detail as other stations, which can be an advantage or disadvantage depending on who is using them and how many people are sharing the data. If someone needs to keep track of changes over time or monitor climatic changes, these stations are not ideal for that purpose since they are just providing snapshots at a time in the past.
- Typical Weather Stations– These stations provide a more general and average forecast for your area in terms of temperature, humidity, wind speeds, and rainfall over time. Such stations usually do not offer specific information about your local climate or help you to keep track of changes in weather patterns because they are just providing averages based on data from many other weather sources. This type is easy to use but does not give detailed information.
- Advanced Personal Weather Station (APWS)- With this type, you can receive very specific forecasts and data, especially if an expert has programmed it. You may get meteorological alerts this way, but such signals require proper interpretation and action, which may also take some research to make sure you understand the implications and decide on an appropriate course of action. The station can also monitor climatic changes and report them over time, but again, this information requires interpretation and knowledge to use properly, which may not be available in some locales.
With these basic ideas about weather stations in mind, you can get more exact information about what kinds of features each station provides and how they work. Do not forget that forecasts’ accuracy depends on factors such as environment and geography, so your results may vary from other people’s experiences with the same equipment. Get yourself informed before buying any home weather station type so you can figure out what kind will meet your needs best.