So with my Ambient Weather WS-2902 dying after 4 solid years of use, I decided to go for the Tempest. I love the design with no mechanical moving parts that wear out over time and the advanced technology for measuring wind and rain. The lightning alerts are also new to me, but are an added perk. However, the one thing missing is a better alert system. I enjoyed the Ambient Weather alerts for low/high temperatures, wind speed/gust alerts, rain amount alerts, etc. And “NO” IFTTT is not a solution guys! You get 5 automations with the free version of IFTTT and then you have to pay for it @ $10 monthly. What’s more IFTTT is not that reliable in my opinion. Adding enhanced alerts would be another perk for anyone looking to purchase the Tempest. Please consider adding these enhanced features. Impressed with the Tempest, but miss the enhanced alerts that I had with the WS-2902.
Make sure to vote for your feature request if you have any votes left. Just click the Vote button at the top of the topic.
I was going to channel you and say that! 
Hi… curious did you consider the WS-5000 unit as a replacement to your WS-2902?
I did, but it seemed to me they were trying to copy what Weatherflow had already done with the Tempest. Not to mention the price of the WS-5000 @ $430 and you have to pay another $52 for the lightning detection sensor. Now with that said, Ambient Weather is a strong contender in their technology, but I only got about 4 years out of my WS-2902 and the thing has about reached end of life. The solar cell is completely corroded and sometimes the weather station will completely disconnect from the base. I have actually requested a replacement unit and am hoping for a discount. This is where I find out how well Ambient Weather is willing to support their customer base. These are of course my opinions and others may feel differently. Overall I have been satisfied with the WS-2902, but felt like the Tempest was a more advanced design with different technology. I decided on the Tempest but will likely replace the WS-2902 as well so I can field test both. Just not thrilled with the WS-5000.
Thanks… I am a meteorologist and like to evaluate weather stations.
Have always been a Davis supporter but got the Tempest last December. Unfortunately I have not been real pleased with it due to poor rainfall estimates, odd wind readings when the unit is wet and poor battery recharging. I won’t go into details on the battery issue… I have a ticket in on that again and will see how we proceed.
Thanks for your comments on the WS-5000. I am interested in how the anemometer compares to the tempest. I know I will not have to spend all of my time observing battery levels as I find myself doing with the Tempest too often.
George,
I think I deal with you every year when I renew our annual maintenance for Hurrtrak? Did I get it right?
Interesting…so you have to pay for more than 5 alerts with IFTTT alerts. Not to highjack this thread wouldn’t it be possible with the AI in the Tempest to do possible alerts for in coming fronts per nearby Tempest station(s) with it heading in your station(s) direction for heads up on the incoming weather?
The idea is nice but why do you think many services are becoming paid services ?? Just try to imagine the cpu/ram you need to keep track of 30k stations and weather patterns ???
And this is not something you can run like once a day for each station, this must become a continuous process. Not sure someone is willing to do this for “free”. Maybe someone can come up with some decentralised script we all can run as a cluster ?? Something in the same spirit as Boinc ??
Agree on coming up with some kind of coding of set parameters then kick out the alert(s) to nearby station(s). This would push Tempest above the rest with this enhanced feature in my opinion.
Thanks,
tweatherman
Okay, so I did want to bring some things to light about the possible cost and what is involved with servers, coders, and development. With Ambient Weather, I paid around $130 for the WS-2902 weather station in December 2017. What else did I get with that weather station? I received a very nice base station that also monitors the temperature and humidity inside my home. I also created an account in the Ambient Weather network that included a multi-platform application with API that is very robust. The mapping interface will show other Ambient Weather stations on the map and the temperatures and windspeed/directions can be chosen to display on the map. Part of that system included an extensive alert system. I can create alerts for nearly every measurable parameter of the weather station and choose the frequency of the alerts. So right out of the gate, Ambient Weather seems to have very good network of servers and a good team of coders and developers. Especially, considering that I only paid $130 for the weather station. In the case of the Weatherflow Tempest, I paid $329 plus tax. Am I complaining? Not at all. The Tempest is a new kind of weather station that uses different technology and they have only been around since 2019. I expect that it will take time to expand their services and to include these new features and enhancements. The deal is we have to let them know what we want, so these user forums and blogs are intended for exactly that. I personally want to see an enhanced alert system and I also want to see an enhanced base station that includes indoor temperature and humidity. I don’t have to visually see this on the base station but I want those measurement added to the applications. Weatherflow will have to work out purchasing servers or server services along with hiring the right staff that can code and develop. I hope with time all of these things will happen. I personally feel like I deserved a little more bang for the buck, but I know nothing about Weatherflows budget and expenses for their technology and operations. Time will tell I guess. Just my 2 cents.
The current Tempest station is the second generation of Weather Flow stations that have been in existence since 2016.
Same principle, only it has been split into two external multisensors.
Thanks very much WeatherFlow for making my request come to reality with NWS alerts!
tweatherman