We get a lot of requests for help form people thinking of creating their own weather station. Well, we're here to help!

First of all, do your research into what you're looking for in a weather station. Some are even wireless, allowing you to place them in your yard without having to string cables everywhere. You can get a good start at this link: http://www.ambientweather.com/station.html
 or this link at weathershack.com's education center. (Note that this is part of a commercial site, but KOMO does not specifically endorse this or any particular site for where to make your purchase.)

Other things to consider are how precise their measurements are. Some, for example, only read a wind speed every 4 seconds and some rain gauges only record in 0.04 inch increments -- which is not much use in the Northwest where we have many days of rain that register under 0.04".  I'd suggest finding one that measures every 0.01"

Once you have an idea of what looking for, check out these Web sites, which are the largest providers of weather stations to perhaps find that perfect weather station.  (Be sure to check the specifications to make sure it has what you want.)

    * Davis Weather Instruments: http://www.davisnet.com
    * Oregon Scientific: http://www.oregonscientific.com
    * LaCrosse Weather Stations: http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/
    * Texas Instruments -- http://www.texas-weather.com/

Another trick is: Once you've found a weather station you like, go to www.google.com and put in the brand name and model number into the search box -- you'll find dozens of places that sell these weather stations, and it'll allow you to comparison shop.  All four have received pretty good reviews. Expect to pay anywhere between $200 and $600, depending on what you're looking for.

Putting Your Data Online

We've found another popular feature is putting your weather station's data on your own Web site. The sales Web sites should also have software, or get you to a place that sells software, to auto-update conditions online.

The software runs between $50 and $250 depending on how fancy you want it.  Here's a few that I know of:

    * Ambient Virtual Weather Station
    * WeatherView 32
    * Weather-Display

Once you're up and running, we'd be happy to add you to our Live Weather Watcher Page. Check out some of those pages anyway to see how others are putting their live station online :)

Happy weather station hunting! :)