Outside of scientific and research applications, I’m not really sure why someone would need a rain gauge at home. I guess a farmer might like to keep tabs on how much water their crop is getting, but knowing how much rain fell last month just seems like a boring conversation starter. On the other hand, who am I to pass up anything with an LCD? This Wireless Digital Rain Gauge (wireless because it runs on a single AA battery) is accurate to a thousandth of an inch (0.001) of rainfall and includes an LCD display that’s readable from up to 10 feet away.
The Digital Rain Gauge is also self-emptying since the water droplets are measured as they flow through the device and exit out the bottom. The rain isn’t actually collected, which means you never have to empty it out and there’s no risk of it freezing up overnight. It also features a one-touch reset button allowing you to track rainfall over a set period of time, or on a storm-by-storm basis.
If you feel umbrellas are less about keeping dry, and more about making a fashion statement, these Twilight Umbrellas should at least ensure you stand out in a crowd. While the black finish is pretty run of the mill, it actually makes all the small fiber optic lights included on the umbrella’s canopy stand out better.
The umbrellas (available from I Want One Of Those) are powered by 3 AAA batteries and are available in either a solid ‘blue stars’ version for about $37, or a ‘color phasing stars’ version for $41.
I can’t think of a more terrible word in the corporate vernacular than ’successories.’ While I guess anything can really be a successory, the term tends to apply to images and items that include an inspirational phrase of some sort. And honestly, if you can’t survive a day at work without being surrounded by all this inspirational crap, then maybe you’ve chosen the wrong career.
Unfortunately though, it looks like successories are trying to make a break from the confines of the corporate world in the form of this inspirational umbrella. When open, a panel on one side of the canopy has a vibrant, full-color image, while the opposite side has a motivational quote. Perfect for people who spend their time reading umbrellas. At least it uses the patented ‘Windbrella Vented Mesh System’ so that it won’t be torn apart in high winds. “If the umbrella can survive, then so can I!”
What you see here is a man-made tornado standing 34.43 meters high, officially making it the world’s largest according to the Guinness Book Of World Records. But you won’t find this twister in some science center, museum or Knowledgeum. It’s actually located in the multi-story gallery of the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Germany.
While the tornado will clearly serve as a tourist attraction, it was actually created to stop smoke from making its way into exhibit areas in the event a large fire was to break out. To create the tornado seen in these photos, carbon dioxide vapor was used instead of smoke, and it takes 144 separate jets about 7 minutes to get the 28 tons of air moving fast enough to form a funnel. When it does, a low-pressure column in the center of the tornado effectively sucks in any smoke and carries it up to vents in the roof allowing it to escape.
Instead of making you stare at some low-rent, monochrome LCD display, this home weather station connects to your TV and provides a slightly more in-depth readout of the current conditions. An included temperature, rain and wind sensor can be placed around your yard, and will wirelessly broadcast the data they collect back to the base station in your house. (The system has a range of just under 200 feet.)
The receiver connects to your TV via a composite cable so don’t expect an HD-quality picture, but it does provide info such as current temperature inside and outside, wind chill factor, wind direction, wind speed, barometric trend, rainfall, humidity and more. The receiver will also calculate a forecast based on weather trends over the past 72 hours. Once again, this seems like one of those products for people who are completely cut off from any and all sources of media, or who just don’t trust their shady local weatherman.
The TV Weather Station is available from firstSTREET for $129.95.
Even though you have to leave your computer, game consoles and PVR behind when you hit the great outdoors it doesn’t mean you have to stay gadget free. Like GPS devices this handheld weather forecaster from Oregon Scientific is designed to be used while camping or hiking to provide you with constantly updated info on the local weather situation.
The unit is roughly the size of a short, squat cellphone and the LCD screen displays the local temperature and humidity readings in addition to a 12 to 24 hour weather forecast using animated icons. It also includes a moon phase indicator, severe weather alert indicator and alarm clock functions complete with crescendo alarm and snooze button.
It’s currently available directly from Oregon Scientific for $39.95.
The various indoor weather stations that Oregon Scientific are known for are great when it comes to functionality but they aren’t the coolest looking devices thanks in part to their large monochrome LCD displays. Well the company appears to be trying to shed that geeky image and tap into the ‘desperate to impress my friends‘ market with their new Crystal Weather Station.
It uses a large crystal block on top that’s laser engraved with 3D icons representing the sun, clouds or rain. Basically like the smaller versions you can have you face engraved into at your local mall. The current weather condition is indicated by whichever icon is illuminated with color lighting. The crystal station also has a stylish red digital clock set against black that is radio controlled to ensure it’s always accurate. And you can change the display mode between time and indoor temperature with just a wave of your hand.
While the Crystal Weather Station only appears to be a concept at this time it is listed on the Oregon Scientific website as a ‘New Product’ so I wouldn’t be surprised to see it available for sale sometime in the near future.
If you live in the infamous tornado alley or anyplace where severe weather is a serious threat this weather station from Honeywell could very well save your life. It has the usual functions we’ve come to expect from a weather station including a backlit LCD display, 12 to 24 hour weather forecasts, a 24 hour barometric pressure history chart and it can even calculate sunrise and sunset times. It also includes a wireless anemometer for measuring windspeed and direction, a rain gauge for measuring rainfall levels and a thermo hygrometer for measuring temperature and humidity.
But what really sets this particular weather station apart is that it can access the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) SAME technology broadcasts allowing it to display emergency weather alerts such as tornado and thunderstorm warnings for your particular area. And since these alerts are not to be taken lightly the device will even sound an alarm when the warnings are issued to make sure you’re aware of the approaching dangers.
The All Weather Station is available on the Honeywell website for $349.99.
The StrikeAlert is a small pager-sized device that provides an early warning of approaching storms that are producing lightning. When there is a strike an audible alarm will sound and a series of colored LEDs will let you know the distance from as far away as 40 miles to within 6 miles. It can also let you know if the storm is getting closer, moving away or remaining stationary based on the detected lightning strikes. On 2 AA batteries the unit will run for about 100 hours which should get you through even the worst of storms.
I was actually surprised to find that the estimated odds of being hit by lightning in a given year are as high as 1/400,000. All things considered though it’s still pretty rare and I don’t know if carrying around a lightning detector all day is really that necessary. Common sense should be more than enough to let you know if it’s time to put away the golf clubs and head inside when the weather turns nasty.
It’s not always the norm but sometimes technology and nature can play nice together. For the green thumb who spends just as much time reading gadget blogs as they do gardening comes this wireless rain center. It will keep track of the daily and total rainfall levels in your garden and send that info back to an indoor receiver where it’s displayed on a large, easy to read LCD.
The rain monitoring bucket is easily installed in your garden (or wherever you’re curious about rainfall levels) and is self-emptying for easy maintenance. The wireless receiver has a range of about 330 feet and includes a user-defined rainfall alarm for the past 24 hours.
The Wireless Rain Center is available from Frontgate for $39.50.
By Andrew Liszewski
Related Tags: Outdoors, Weather
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By Andrew Liszewski
By Andrew Liszewski
By Andrew Liszewski
By Andrew Liszewski
By Andrew Liszewski
By Andrew Liszewski
By Andrew Liszewski
By Andrew Liszewski
