If you’re the type who obsesses over the weather, constantly checking forecasts and radar maps to plan a weekend barbecue or a round of golf, then the Ambient Weather WS-5000 Ultrasonic Professional Smart Weather Station might just be your dream gadget. This professional-grade home weather monitoring system can track and forecast everything from wind speed and direction to rainfall, UV levels and even soil moisture if you opt for the additional sensors. It’s like having your own personal meteorologist whispering the secrets of the skies into your home.

At its core is a sophisticated sensor array that would make a NASA engineer nod in approval. A pagoda of wireless instruments measures temperature, humidity, rainfall, UV intensity, wind speed and wind direction. 

The extra-large rain cup enhances rainfall measurement accuracy, and the wireless design allows you to place the array in an open space without cables or electrical power concerns. The ultrasonic wind meter uses sound waves instead of moving parts to measure wind velocity and direction. This increases accuracy and ensures longevity, since there are no spinning cups to wear down over time. It can also connect with a range of additional sensors that measure air quality, soil moisture, swimming pool temperature or detect lightning and water leaks.

You monitor all the data on a vibrant TFT color display console that sits on a tabletop or mounts to a wall. This tablet displays all the hyperlocal weather data in an easy-to-read format, with customizable layouts and the ability to connect additional displays as needed. You can view current conditions, historical data, forecasts and metrics like wind chill and heat index and connect to the free Wunderground.com worldwide network of other personal weather stations. If you’re a true weather nerd, you can export all the data to an SD card for advanced number-crunching in Excel.

Naturally, all this weather-tracking prowess is more expensive than looking up the forecast on a phone, but it’s also more precise. The WS-5000 will set you back nearly $450, which is a significant investment for most casual weather watchers. But for those obsessed with weather data and forecasting (or you need to know if your golf game is going to get rained out), it’s a fair price to pay.

We especially like that the WS-5000 connects with your home’s Wi-Fi, talks to your smart devices, and even talks to Alexa and Google Assistant as if it were discussing the weather over a cup of coffee. You can ask your voice assistant for a hyperlocal weather report or set up applets to trigger smart home actions based on weather conditions. Want your sprinklers to turn on before the tomatoes start to wilt? Or your lights to come on when afternoon storms darken the skies? The WS-5000 can make it happen. It’s smart home technology with a friendly face, the kind of device that makes you want to ask it how it’s doing.

Setup and connectivity can be a bit cumbersome, but once you’ve got everything up and running, the WS-5000 is a weather data goldmine, perfect for the backyard meteorologist or anyone who wants to drill down on the microclimate of their little slice of the world.