Home Assistant Weather Station: Your Hyperlocal Weather Data, Fully Automated

Ecowitt is the gold standard for Home Assistant weather stations. The GW2000 gateway connects directly to HA over your local network, no cloud needed. Start with basic outdoor sensors and expand with soil moisture probes, indoor air quality monitors, lightning detectors, and more. The ecosystem has over 30 sensor types.

Sensors included (HP2560 bundle): Temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction, rainfall, UV index, solar radiation. Add soil moisture, PM2.5 air quality, lightning, and leaf wetness sensors separately.

Why it wins: 100% local, huge sensor ecosystem, affordable, active HA community support. The Ecowitt integration (HACS) creates individual sensors for every metric, ready for automations and dashboards.

The Tempest is a single, sleek unit with no moving parts. It uses a haptic rain sensor instead of a tipping bucket and a sonic anemometer instead of spinning cups. Solar powered, no batteries to replace. Looks great on your roof. The downside: data goes through the WeatherFlow cloud before reaching Home Assistant.

Sensors: Temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed and direction, rain, UV, solar radiation, lightning detection, illuminance.

Why pick it: Beautiful design, no maintenance, lightning detection built in. The native HA integration (WeatherFlow) uses local UDP broadcast, so most data arrives without internet. Cloud API provides forecast data and rain correction algorithms.

Ambient Weather stations are popular in the US and offer solid hardware at competitive prices. The WS-2902 is a great entry point, while the WS-5000 uses a separate sensor array for better accuracy. Both integrate with HA through the Ambient Station integration, but it requires a cloud API connection.

Sensors: Temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed and direction, rainfall, UV, solar radiation. WS-5000 adds soil moisture and PM2.5 options.

Pro tip: Ambient Weather stations are also compatible with Ecowitt firmware. Some users flash their Ambient consoles to use the Ecowitt local integration, eliminating the cloud dependency entirely.

Build exactly the station you want with an ESP32 board and off the shelf sensors. ESPHome firmware makes each sensor a native Home Assistant entity. No gateway, no cloud, no subscription. The tradeoff: you need to build and weatherproof it yourself, and calibration takes some patience.

Common sensors: BME280 (temp/humidity/pressure), BH1750 (light), VEML6075 (UV), Davis rain gauge, wind speed kit (hall effect anemometer), capacitive soil moisture probes.

Our recommendation

For most Home Assistant users, the Ecowitt GW2000 with the HP2560 sensor bundle is the sweet spot. It gives you accurate data, works 100% locally, and you can add soil moisture and air quality sensors later. If you want zero maintenance and a beautiful design, the Tempest is hard to beat. If you enjoy building things, the ESP32 route is the most rewarding (and cheapest).

1. Frost Warning Alert

Get a notification when outdoor temperature drops below 2°C so you can protect plants or pipes.

automation:
  - alias: "Frost Warning"
    trigger:
      - platform: numeric_state
        entity_id: sensor.outdoor_temperature
        below: 2
    condition:
      - condition: time
        after: "18:00:00"
        before: "09:00:00"
    action:
      - service: notify.mobile_app
        data:
          title: "🥶 Frost Warning"
          message: >
            Outdoor temperature is {{states('sensor.outdoor_temperature')}}°C.
            Cover tender plants and check exposed pipes.

2. Skip Irrigation After Rain

Cancel scheduled watering if your rain gauge measured more than 3mm in the past 24 hours.

automation:
  - alias: "Skip Irrigation After Rain"
    trigger:
      - platform: time
        at: "06:00:00"
    condition:
      - condition: numeric_state
        entity_id: sensor.rain_daily
        above: 3
    action:
      - service: switch.turn_off
        entity_id: switch.irrigation_zone_1
      - service: notify.mobile_app
        data:
          message: >
            Skipping irrigation. {{states('sensor.rain_daily')}}mm
            of rain recorded in the last 24 hours.

3. Close Blinds on High UV

Protect furniture from sun damage and keep rooms cool by closing south-facing blinds when UV gets intense.

automation:
  - alias: "Close Blinds High UV"
    trigger:
      - platform: numeric_state
        entity_id: sensor.outdoor_uv_index
        above: 7
    condition:
      - condition: state
        entity_id: cover.south_blinds
        state: "open"
    action:
      - service: cover.close_cover
        entity_id: cover.south_blinds

4. Wind Protection for Awnings

Retract awnings or pergola covers when wind speed exceeds a safe threshold to prevent damage.

automation:
  - alias: "Retract Awning High Wind"
    trigger:
      - platform: numeric_state
        entity_id: sensor.wind_speed
        above: 35  # km/h
    action:
      - service: cover.close_cover
        entity_id: cover.patio_awning
      - service: notify.mobile_app
        data:
          message: >
            Awning retracted. Wind speed at
            {{states('sensor.wind_speed')}} km/h.

5. Smart Thermostat Based on Outdoor Trends

Preheat your home when outdoor temperature is dropping fast, instead of waiting until the house gets cold.

automation:
  - alias: "Preheat on Rapid Temp Drop"
    trigger:
      - platform: template
        value_template: >
          {{states('sensor.outdoor_temperature') | float
            - state_attr('sensor.outdoor_temperature',
              'last_hour_average') | float(0) < -3}}
    action:
      - service: climate.set_temperature
        data:
          entity_id: climate.thermostat
          temperature: 21
      - service: notify.mobile_app
        data:
          message: "Preheating: outdoor temp dropping fast."