Using Online Weather Services With Your Weather Station

Online weather services collect, store and share weather data from official stations and personal weather stations (PWS) worldwide. They let you view local weather conditions in real time, access historical records and share readings from your own station. Three popular platforms are Weather Underground, WeatherCloud and the UK Met Office’s Weather Observations Website (WoW).

Weather Underground

Weather Underground is a global network combining readings from thousands of personal weather stations and official sources.

• View real time local weather conditions.
• See interactive maps and forecasts.
• Share your station’s data with the public.

Why use it: It’s one of the largest networks, so you can find local data. It also has a strong community of weather enthusiasts.

How to connect

1. Set up a compatible personal weather station.
2. Create a Weather Underground account.
3. Add your station to your account and enter the station ID and key into your PWS software or app.

WeatherCloud

WeatherCloud is a free network focused on live data sharing. It offers a clean interface and works with many weather station brands.

• Public and private dashboards.
• Graphs, statistics and historical data access.
• Device compatibility with many weather station brands.

How to connect

1. Create a WeatherCloud account.
2. Register your station and note your unique WeatherCloud ID and key.
3. Enter these details into your weather station software.

UK Met Office WoW (Weather Observations Website)

WoW is run by the UK Met Office to gather weather data from the public, schools and organisations. This supports research, forecasting and public access to historical data.

Why use it:

• Contribute to the UK’s national meteorological records.
• Compare your readings to official Met Office data
• Access long term historical datasets.

How to connect

1. Create a WoW account on the Met Office website.
2. Add your weather station details.
3. Set up your weather station software to upload data in the required format (often via third-party software such as CumulusMX or Weather-Display).

Benefits of sharing data

• Better forecasts: More data improves local forecasting accuracy.
• Community contribution: Your readings help other weather watchers, farmers, sailors and event planners.
• Data history: Track weather trends over months or years.
• Public visibility: Share your station’s data publicly for use by local groups or online followers.

Things to think about before connecting

• Ensure your station is accurate and correctly sited.
• Check data upload frequency, faster updates mean more useful real-time data.
• Use a reliable internet connection.
• Follow each platform’s data formatting guidelines.