Home Weather Stations: Simplify Your Daily Forecast

WeatherFlow is a relatively recent entrant to the home weather station market, although it has years of experience. Its coastal network of professional weather stations has been delivering vital information to meteorologists for years and has proven useful (and durable) in landfalling hurricanes.

The Tempest Weather System is WeatherFlow's first attempt at a wireless home weather station. For the most part, it's a good start. It's the only one of our stations with built-in lightning detection, one of Tempest's standout features, and operates entirely on solar power.

We found that the real-time lightning data matched better with historical data than from professional lightning detection networks. It regularly detected distant lightning faster than any other station we've tested. In addition to lightning data, the Tempest measures indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity, barometric pressure, and UV and light intensity.

Wind is measured by a sonic anemometer which we found to be fairly accurate. And up until the Ecowitt Wittboy, the Tempest Weather System was the only home weather station to use a haptic rain sensor.

See our review for a way to save 10% off your next purchase from WeatherFlow.

At $999, the KestrelMet 6000 home weather station is not for the casual weather enthusiast. Despite this, its excellent features, such as top-tier accuracy, ease of installation, and high-quality construction, make it a worthwhile investment for hardcore weather fans.

It matches the Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station in size and accuracy, offering even better tools to view and analyze data. However, unlike the Pro2, it doesn't require additional hardware for internet connectivity and outperforms Davis Vantage Vue's temperature accuracy. Even compared to the WeatherFlow Tempest, KestrelMet 6000 proves superior in all aspects except for lightning detection and UV/solar sensors, the latter of which kept this from a nearly perfect score.

Standard are indoor and two outdoor sensors for temperature and relative humidity, measurements, rainfall, wind speed and direction, and barometric pressure. Solar irradiance sensors and soil moisture and leaf wetness sensors are available as an option at the time of purchase. While the hefty price tag may be daunting, for those who value accuracy and the capacity for expansion, the KestrelMet 6000 is a solid choice.

The Ambient Weather WS-2902 is surprisingly feature-packed and accurate, given its price. Many of the cheap wireless home weather stations we've tested had issues that prevented us from genuinely recommending them. The WS-2902 does not.

The WS-2902 isn't as accurate as the WS-5000 or Davis weather stations, but it's also less than half the price. The connectivity is a standout feature at its price point, with full smart-home capabilities thanks to IFTTT, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa support. Like the WS-5000, connecting the station to AmbientWeather.net allows you to share data with Weather Underground and access weather station data through the app or a web-based portal.

If you can't justify the price of other weather stations on our list, the Ambient Weather WS-2902 is the best budget model available. The LCD display console in the WS-2902 is much improved over previous models. When we tested the WS-2902A, the console suffered from readability problems beyond a 30-degree angle, which is far less of a problem now.

The WS-2902 weather station has all the features you'd expect including indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity, rainfall, wind speed and direction, and barometric pressure. A nice surprise is the inclusion of a fairly accurate UV/light sensor, something you typically don't see on other home weather stations even in this price range.

Unfortunately, rising component costs and inflation have made the Ambient Weather WS-5000 one of our list's most expensive personal weather stations. That played a part in losing the top rank in our Best Weather Stations of 2024 rankings (it was the #1 best weather station back in 2022). But you do get quite a bit for your money.

The WS-5000 features a redesigned sensor suite, including an ultrasonic anemometer. Eliminating the cup anemometer found on other weather stations drastically reduces the number of moving parts and can measure wind speed as accurately as the cup-and-vane. This should extend its useable life as the traditional anemometer requires ongoing maintenance to ensure trouble-free use.

The Ambient Weather WS-5000's sensors were much more accurate in our tests than the WS-2000, WS-2902, and WS-1900A, which use a slightly lower-quality sensor suite. Thanks to expandability and a wide array of optional additional sensors here, you can add just about any sensor you can think of, including air quality, soil moisture, water temperature, and lightning, all of which send data to the console in as little as every five seconds.

The company has made it easy to share your data publicly through Weather Underground. Its smart home connectivity is best in class, offering IFTTT compatibility to connect your station to your smart home system. Of course, there's Ambient Weather Network and the Ambient Weather app to view your personal weather stations' data remotely on your mobile device or through the web app.

If you're looking for a step up from the WS-2902, with accuracy that rivals any Davis station, the WS-5000 is the best home weather station for you. The price, however, might scare some away. If you can do without the console, a version of the WS-5000 with app access to your data is available.

The Davis Vantage Vue got a much-needed update when the WeatherLink Console debuted earlier this year. It's the successor to the WeatherLink Live hub and changed how you interact with your station for the better. It's built on Android and appears to be upgradeable, so you're no longer stuck in the past with dated hardware.

The reliability of Davis weather stations is legendary in the weather enthusiast community. I've had mine running continuously since September 2016, and I know others who have had theirs for over a decade. There is also the story of a gentleman with a Davis Weather Monitor II (a predecessor to the Vue) who recently upgraded after 27 years (that's not a typo).

While you don't get the unbeatable accuracy of the high-end Davis Vantage Pro 2 home weather station, my experience has been positive. With the WeatherLink Console, sharing your data is super easy. While on your home network, you can watch live conditions (updated every two seconds), and your data is uploaded to Davis' platform once per minute.

If there's one thing I'd ding this weather station for, it's its lack of upgradeability. Sure, you get all the basics, but the only optional sensor you can add is the Davis AirLink.