Debugger
Forget Dark Sky — Build Your Own DIY Weather App
For $180, I built my own personal weather station on my porch
When Apple acquired my preferred weather app, Dark Sky, and shut it down for Android users in July, I decided I finally had the excuse I was looking for to set up my own hyper-local weather station. I could get my own personalized weather forecast to replace what I lost with Dark Sky, and I could track and nerd out over how the weather at my house changed over time.
Others may have more important reasons for tracking the ultra-local weather: As wildfires ravage California and the West, for example, a home weather station can help those impacted by the smoke understand the air quality immediately outside, rather than relying on more general measures.
There are a bunch of options for home weather stations, generally starting at hundreds of dollars. I eventually settled on a device from a company called Netatmo, which costs $180 and easily connects with other “smart home” devices I already own.
Netatmo’s weather station is made up of wireless indoor and outdoor modules, which measure temperature, pressure, humidity, and air quality levels. If you’re looking for better accuracy — if you’ve read this far, you probably are — the company sells optional…
