Weather Stations for Home: Wireless and Handheld Stations Review

There are many personal weather stations, especially wireless models, available that promise a wide array of features to help you get the latest data on and even forecast your local weather. But how do you know which weather stations are the best overall?

For the most part, the home weather station options available these days are at least of decent quality, and many are highly reliable. There are, however, a few models that are superior and sure to provide the data you need for your home, office, or agricultural outfit. Let's take a look at 5 of the more popular personal weather stations, including wireless and handheld models, that are worth considering.

Davis Instruments 6250 Vantage Vue Wireless Weather Stations

A popular model because it of the company's longstanding reputation for accurate and durable home weather devices, the 6250 Vantage Vue has sensors that report wind speed, wind direction, humidity, temperature, rainfall, dew point, and more. The model consists of an outdoor sensor that needs to be mounted away from trees and roofs for the most accurate data and an indoor receiver that displays your weather data in an easy-to-use format. The list price for the Davis Instruments 6250 Vantage Vue is $395.00.

Oregon Scientific EB313HG Handheld Weather Forecaster with Alarm Clock

The Oregon Scientific EB313HG is a convenient tool for those who don't want to spend a fortune on weather stations with wireless outdoor sensors. For a list price of $39.99, you get a sleek, handheld weather station that not only offers current humidity and temperature info, but also records daily minimum and maximum temperature (lows and highs), has a moon phase indicator, and provides 12- and 24-hour weather forecasts.

La Crosse Technology WS-1612CH-IT Professional Weather Station

Listed at $149.99, the La Crosse WS-1612CH-IT is a basic transmitter / receiver weather station with a component that mounts outdoors to record rain, wind, temperature, humidity, and rain information that's displayed on an indoor receiver. As one of the more popular weather stations with wireless technology, you won't need to worry about fishing wires under a window or through a hole in the wall. You will, however need to mount the remote sensor in an area that has free airflow and is away from trees, buildings, and any other obstructions that will inhibit data collection.

Weather Channel WS-9077TWC Wireless Forecaster from La Crosse

If you don't need all the bells and whistles of the weather stations featuring wireless anemometers, rain gauges, and hygrometers, but still need up-to-the-minute barometric and temperature information, the Weather Channel WS-9077TWC may be for you. For $49.95, you get a device that has an outdoor remote sensor which pipes in outdoor temperature information to a compact, easy-to-read indoor device. The WS-9077TWC also displays a weather forecast based on barometric readings as well as a clock.

Ambient Weather WM-4 Handheld Weather Station with Wind Speed

With a list price of $200.00, the Ambient WM-4 is the most expensive model on this list, but it's also features a wide variety of features that will appeal to novice and professional weather bugs alike. This compact device displays wind data, cross wind and head / tail wind information, dew point, humidity, and air temperature. Lightweight and contoured for carrying in your pocket, the Ambient WM-4 is perfect for hikers, boaters, travelers, and anyone else who wants all kinds of weather data in one handy device.

While these are just five of the many weather stations, both wireless and handheld on the market, the five models listed here are widely available in popular models that provide timely and reasonably accurate weather data.