Fun And Practical Wind and Weather Gadgets

As a society, we're consumed with the weather. Our personal, business, and economic well being can often depend upon wind and weather conditions. Travel, shopping, and social decisions are often dependent on the weather, and it's a well known fact that most conversations begin and end with comments about wind and weather.

What's even more interesting about weather and wind is not only their impact on our daily lives, but that forecasting weather and wind have become one of today's hottest hobbies, no pun intended! Wind and weather gadgets and related instruments are now a large part of attractive home decor. Items such as portable weather stations, wind gauges, specialty thermometers, and wind and weather home forecasters serve practical and decorative purposes for the well designed home.

Let's take a look at some of today's latest weather and wind gadgets, with a description of what they do. Each of these are applicable for home use and add a fun, practical element to your home decor.

Weather Stations: These desktop weather centers are designed for those who are most interested in optimal conditions in their living area or garden. Weather stations typically display temperature and humidity levels for multiple locations, and 12-24 hour advanced forecasts. Usually, a desktop weather station shows forecasts, at a glance, for rainy, sunny, snowy, cloudy, and partly cloudy.

Wireless Rain Gauges: Designed for the gardener or hobbyist, wireless rain gauges normally have a 100' tracking range and display rainfall history tracking data. Most wireless rain gauges also track current temperature and temperature trends at a glance. In most cases, these handy units can be placed on a desktop or wall mounted.

Wind Resistant and Lighted Umbrellas: Even umbrellas have gone high tech. If you've ever had your umbrella turned inside out due to high winds, you should know that wind resistant umbrellas are designed to avoid that unpleasant problem. Further, lighted umbrellas are a unique rain protection device where the shaft is made of clear acrylic which lights up in dark conditions and doesn't require bulb replacement.

Hygrometers: Hygrometers are designed to measure and display every environmental factor imaginable. Recently, hygrometers have trended toward hand held models, designed for outdoors enthusiasts. These units display current conditions in digital format, and trends both past and upcoming.

"Family Friendly" Weather Forecasters: The latest fun weather gadgets are designed for youngsters. Animated weather forecasters show all the relevant wind and weather factors, including temperature, humidity, precipitation, and upcoming trends. The unique and fun aspect of an animated weather forecaster is a built in "weather boy" who wears an outfit appropriate for the day's weather. Geared toward children, animated weather forecasters help guide children to dress appropriately for upcoming weather.

Learning and understanding weather is no longer the cut and dried forecast in the local paper or the news channel. These fun and practical weather gadgets are part of a growing hobby appropriate for all ages.

Jim Hofman is a native Chicagoan who long ago learned to prepare for rapidly changing wind and weather conditions. To learn more about wind and weather gadgets and their purpose, visit:

"Weather Now" Weather Stations

One of the most interesting weather gadgets to hit the market recently is a unique device called Weather Now.

Weather Now gives you a complete weather report for your area at a glance. Particularly useful for urban areas, Weather Now is a simple solution for getting comprehensive, real-time weather reports.

We found Weather Now exceptionally easy to use. Basically, it works with radio signals from the MSN Direct network, which includes almost all of U.S. areas. Servers gather weather facts in over 100 metro areas in North America and the data is sent to radio towers. The towers then transmit the data within coverage areas.

Weather Now displays real-time, four day weather forecasts. You get:

- Temperature and Humidity, along with trands
- National Weather Service watches and alerts
- Wind direction and wind speed
- Wind chill
- Dew point
- Heat and UV Index
- Rain stats and 24 hour history
- Air quality and visibility indicators
- Sunrise/Sunset data and moon phases

We especially like the alarm clock feature %u2026 fits great on a nightstand (it's roughly 6x10 inches) and is well designed and proportioned. FYI, Weather Now works on four AA batteries.

Here's a more in depth look at Weather Now:

Regional Weather Forecaster - A Wind & Weather Hot Product!