These Tabletop Gadgets Provide Amazingly Accurate Personalized Weather Forecasts

Need to know if rain is going to, well, rain on your parade? There's an app for that — but that little weather prediction tool can only tell you so much about the environment around you. For the most detailed information right at your fingertips, there's another powerful tool you can add to your space: A home weather station.

Personal weather stations are handy gadgets for giving you an up-to-the-minute snapshot of what's happening right outside your door — not wherever your local weather station is. Most use strategically placed sensors posted outside your home to capture readings, and may display everything from the outdoor temperature and humidity level to wind speeds and rainfall amounts. Though powerful, these gadgets are rather small. All are compact enough to sit on a tabletop, though you may choose to mount yours on a wall for easier viewing.

How we test weather stations

The Good Housekeeping Institute regularly tests home weather stations with a range of functionality at both high and low price points. In tests, we evaluate everything from ease of setup — including placing sensors and programming local information like date and time — to accuracy. For weeks, we track both the time and the weather, comparing time against the U.S. atomic clock and meticulously recording the humidity and temperature in our lab using humidity and temperature meters, then comparing that to the temperature and humidity readings on the weather stations. We also look at durability (does the unit survive three-foot drops? Do they sensors hold up to driving rain?) and extra features, like comfort level indicators and additional sensors.

So how do you separate the best from the mediocre? And does price always equate to quality? Here, we've rounded up the standouts based on top Lab tested brands, highly reviewed models, and industry expertise. These picks are based on our comprehensive knowledge from testing, as well as supplemental road tests and reviewing newer versions of tried and tested favorites: