Reviewing the Tempest Weather Station

Published: Dec. 8, 2022 at 4:23 PM EST|Updated: Dec. 9, 2022 at 2:56 PM EST
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Tempest by Weatherflow

One of the most frequent questions I get asked, is “what kind of home weather station do you recommend?”

There are truly so many out there and I’m going to review the newest one that I put up at my house, that’s the Tempest Weather Station by WeatherFlow. To be honest, after I received the box I called my brother to come and help me hook it up. He’s great with electronics and technology and he’s my go to if I need something hooked up or installed.

It was so easy to hook this up, I didn’t even need his help! The hardest part was trying to figure out where to put it. So I got a piece of pvc and attached it off of my deck on the roof. (Well that process is still in the works but I have the PVC, I just need to mount it). This is a good open spot and I wanted to be able to catch strong wind gusts that wouldn’t be blocked by a neighbor house.

So what I like about this weather station:

  • It’s a sleek design, there are really no moving parts. It’s an all in one weather station and every sensor is nearly hidden. This makes it extremely durable.
  • It’s easy to install. Download the app right onto your phone and you’re easily connected. One tap on your phone and you can see current data and historical data. You can even see it in graph form. There’s a lot of cool weather information in the app.
  • I like to see pressure in Mb form, you can change it to inches of mercury if you prefer. You can also even see the air density and the rain duration.
  • It’s solar powered. Yes it will communicate via the wifi hub but the unit does not require batteries.
  • You can also see lightning activity, and distance from your location. Or if you have a pool, turn on the lightning alerts, so you know when it’s time to get out of the pool.

Con:

  • The only con is that because it is solar powered, if you have a lot of trees surrounding your home it’s going to make it very difficult to charge. You do need as much sunlight as possible for it to charge. Now it can be attached to a fence if you have an open area. Having said that, being solar powered that means no batteries, no wires. The only wires are with the hub that stays inside.

Here’s a look at the installation guide if you want to check out ideas for placement and how to install:

This has to be the easiest weather station I’ve ever installed, but it’s also incredibly accurate. The design makes it incredibly durable which is exactly what you want from a home weather station, because it is outside during every kind of weather event.

Info from the weather station available on the app
Info from the weather station available on the app(Aubrey Urbanowicz)

Honest opinion: I’ve heard of the Tempest WeatherFlow station and I knew it was a good one, but I had never really looked into it until I installed this one. I was actually even more impressed when I installed it and really started looking at the features. How many sensors and how much hardware they can get packed into this small, sleet unit is amazing. It’s durable, and accurate. That’s exactly what you need with a weather station.

If you’re interested in buying a Tempest weather station, check out their website here: Tempest by Weatherflow

For farmers and agriculture: If you look on their website, under Consumer-then Handheld Meters. These are miniature weather stations you use with your smartphone via bluetooth to collect real-time wind, temperature, humidity and pressure readings. Readings are recorded and displayed directly in the ‘Wind & Weather Meter’ app. (which is a free app) There is one specific to agriculture which can give you specific weather conditions per your location on a farm.

Placement of your home weather station

To get the most accurate reading, you really need to make sure your home weather station is properly placed. A weather station (or thermometer) in the sun is going to give you inaccurate readings. Now the Tempest WeatherFlow is going to be an exception to this because it’s meant to be in the sun. It’s solar powered and it has a “radiation shield” so it will give an accurate reading despite being in the sun. Not all weather stations are like this.

You also do not want to place your home weather station close to your house, or on a windowsill. You will get a warmer reading this way.

You want to keep your weather station away from asphalt, not too close to trees, and about 4-6′ above the ground. Your thermometer should also not be placed directly on a tree.

Make sure your weather station is in an open area so the wind isn’t blocked. Otherwise you won’t get accurate wind readings.

You want to make sure you have your thermometer or weather station where there is good air flow. A flat area that’s not obstructed by things around it. You want the air to be able to move freely around.