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Reviews For: WeatherFlow Tempest Weather System

Category: Weather Stations

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Review Summary For : WeatherFlow Tempest Weather System
Reviews: 1MSRP: $329
Description:
A revolutionary design with no moving parts, nearly zero maintenance, instant online data, a free personal webpage, and a rich API powering a growing list of third-party applications. Install the Tempest home weather system in less than five minutes and it will do the rest!
Product is in production
More Info: https://weatherflow.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0013
K5DSQ Rating: 2020-12-17
Disappointing Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased my Tempest Weather System about 5-6 months ago to replace an old Ambient Weather System that had reached its useful life. My hope was to get rid of all the mechanical problems one typically suffers from most outdoor mounted systems like clogged or dirty rain gauges or broken anemometers. To that extent, the Tempest system has accomplished those goals.
Installation was very easy as well as the setup with their app. My main gripe is with its reporting flexibility and rainfall accuracy.
Let me preface all of this by stating that I am a National Weather Service observer and in that role, the NWS has installed two very accurate rainfall reporting instruments at my QTH that are right next to my Tempest System. Over the last 5-6 months, I have found that the Tempest greatly exaggerates the amount of rainfall we receive by a factor of 2 to 3. Very often it will text me that it is raining at my QTH when in fact its not. I wrote WeathrFlow about this problem and all they could come up with was that I must have mounted the instrument on a weak support. I reported back that the unit was mounted on a 4" X 4" post set in concrete, far stronger than the 1 1/4" post they recommend. I have not received any additional suggestions or information regarding this from the company.
Regarding the reporting flexibility. Like most weather enthusiasts I report to several weather sites like Weather Underground, Citizen Weather Observer Program (CWOP), PWS Weather..... via the internet, and APRS. With the Tempest System, you can only report to their network and Weather Underground and their system does not allow for any correction/calibration prior to transmitting the data. Fortunately, I have a Weather Bridge that will interface to the Tempest and it does allow me to correct the data prior to transmission to the various sites. For most enthusiasts that not a cheap fix!
Overall I am OK with the Tempest System. It's good but it could easily be best in class with a little work. I do enjoy its lightning reporting feature which alerts me when there is any lightning in the local area. Hope your experience is better than mine.