A digital weather station is an electronic device that receives and digitally displays weather information, often through a wireless connection to a monitoring device. This type of weather station can display a great deal of information, such as current temperature, barometric pressure, accumulated rainfall, and humidity percentages. The information displayed by this system is usually gathered by a separate device, which is installed in an outdoor location, and then transmitted through a connection or wirelessly to the display device. A digital weather station can also connect to an Internet connection instead, and display information obtained by a separate weather service.
There are a number of different devices that can function as a digital weather station, though in general they consist of a display device and some way to gather information about the weather. This display device is usually similar to a handheld smartphone or a digital tablet, and features a screen or readout that displays weather information. The type of information provided by a digital weather station depends on the features included by the manufacturer, and may be changeable based on user input, such as switching between Celsius or Fahrenheit. These devices can vary quite a bit in price, and additional features are often found on more expensive units.
A digital weather station usually functions through a connection to a gathering device, which is installed outside of a location. This device can be installed on the exterior of a house, for example, or on a barn. The gathering device then actually determines information about the local weather, such as temperature, atmospheric or barometric pressure, and humidity, and can even gather rain to produce information regarding accumulated rainfall. This information is then sent by the gathering device to the digital weather station, usually through a cable connection, though wireless devices have become increasingly common and popular.
While this type of digital weather station is quite useful, it typically can only provide information about local and immediate weather conditions. There are also Internet weather stations that can be used to receive weather data from a professional weather service, including data about remote locations or forecasts, and then relay this information through a user-friendly format. These devices often include a wireless “dongle” that is connected to a computer, which establishes an Internet connection to a weather service. This information is then transmitted wirelessly from the dongle to the digital weather station, which is often a small, handheld device and can receive weather data from a relatively great distance away.