Today, home weather stations are a popular and dependable method to monitor current weather conditions. Many people are looking for WiFi weather stations for their home, vacation home, rental or business properties. Some models include more sophisticated sensors and use the National Weather Service feed or crowd-sourced data to provide forecasts and predictions.

Personal weather stations are a great way to stay informed about current conditions and incoming severe weather. There are various options available for people to monitor weather conditions at home or for your business. Those who use personal weather stations range from farmers to backyard weather enthusiasts.

There are several variations of weather stations and they do not all function the same. You will notice that there are large variations between accuracy, measurements, pattern detections, and more. But what is the difference between a cellular weather station and a wi-fi weather station?

The Basics of Personal Weather Stations

Home weather stations, also called personal weather stations, range from very simple to very sophisticated with multiple sensors and the ability to connect to your smart home set up. There are options to satisfy the casual observer looking to measure how much rainfall accumulates in her backyard to the most avid data-obsessed weather enthusiast. Professional meteorologists use advanced higher-end personal weather stations for long-term weather observation.

Weather monitoring readings from personal weather stations can include:

Wind speed
Wind direction
Wind chill
Temperature
WBGT
Heat index
Humidity
And more

What is a Wi-Fi Weather Station?

Home weather stations with Wi-Fi capability transmit data via a wireless network. They use your home internet and the station collects and sends weather data such as rain, wind direction, wind speed, and much more to a console, app, or online for viewing. You must have a way to connect the unit to Wi-Fi for it to work correctly.

What is a Cellular Weather Station?

Meteorologists collect weather data using cellular weather stations, as well as individuals and businesses seeking local weather information. Cellular weather stations are good for remote locations.

A cellular weather station like the KestrelMet 6000 Cellular Weather Station, typically works something like this:

Information about the onsite weather is measured by sensors at the site of the installation
Weather Data is transmitted wirelessly to the cloud via cellular network
You can then view your data online or mobile devices.

WiFi Weather Stations

The most important element of any home WiFi weather station is accuracy.

Remember that forecasting is only as reliable as the data it is based on. Personal weather stations are fairly accurate in relaying current weather conditions for temperature and humidity. This is because they use remote sensors to collect data right outside your door. The accuracy also comes down to tracking data from microclimates that exist right in your own backyard.

How to Choose Between Wi-Fi and Cellular Weather Stations

The truth is that you can get great results with both wi-fi and cellular weather stations. To choose the right fit for you, it depends on several factors such as:

How much data you are interested in collecting?
Do you want to view the data online or on an app?
Do you have reliable Wi-Fi coverage?
Are you in a remote location where cellular coverage is a better option?
Your need to track real-time weather data and log information

Before you buy a Wi-Fi weather station or cellular weather, set a budget and determine what you expect to get from the product. Compare the features, durability, and accuracy of all options before you decide.

There are many choices ranging from basic monitoring to advanced at different prices.