I have only ever owned 2 weather stations; the previous one was over a decade ago (and a gift), so I don't remember the brand. I can only vouch for the one I currently own. I am in no way insinuating that mine is superior to any other brand or type.
Have you thought of buying a home weather station? If you have a single nerdy bone in your body, weather watching can be a great hobby! Although my personal fascination with nature and the weather was my main motivator, there are several reasons why I want to keep an eye on nature's goings-on.
First, I have young grandchildren who are afraid of storms; my hope is that by nurturing an interest in weather, they will feel excitement rather than fear when a storm rolls through. For example, understanding the scientific reason for thunder makes it a lot less scary.
Second, I am severely arthritic and my current project is to find patterns in my pain vs. atmospheric conditions. I do keep logs of my aches and pains and stiffness along with the temperature, humidity, sky conditions, barometric pressure, any exercise or physical therapy I've done that day, and any medications or supplements I've taken.
So why a home station? What's wrong with the local weather forecast? Well, nothing, really; they're generally fairly accurate, at least for a few days out. I get a weather report through my Echo Dot too, and it told me every morning for a week to expect rain. Spoiler alert: didn't happen. When the weather report says there is a n% chance of rain, it may or may not include your front yard. Despite Alexa telling me almost every morning "There's a chance of rain in your area," we had no measureable rainfall for nearly a month, until we got the last bits of Hurricane Helene.
I purchased the Ambient Weather WS-2000 and so far have been very happy with it. It was easy enough to assemble, although I found YouTube videos to be an excellent supplement to the manual. The price is what I would consider "moderately high" at about $300 USD. Most stations in the Ambient line run from about $125 to $450 USD; you can find plenty of others that are less expensive, or you could go into the thousands for more professional-grade stations.
Like anything else, "you get what you pay for" up to a certain extent. You need to decide for yourself what are the must-haves for your own needs, and find the stations that either have those capabilities, or have the option to add them on. A step up from the WS-2000 is the WS-5000, but for my personal needs, I didn't feel that the extras justified the price over the WS-2000.
Recommended stations
Why I chose the WS-2000:
- measures temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind speed and direction, barometric pressure
- includes an indoor thermometer, which allows me to keep tabs on the upstairs temperature while my grandchildren are playing up there
- allows for add-ons
Here is a comparison of the most popular Ambient models. I've gathered from word-of-mouth that Davis (tends to be on the pricier side, but is highly accurate), Tempest, and La Crosse (overall a less expensive brand) are also considered to be solid choices. My dad has a La Crosse--no idea which model--and he's quite happy with it.
I also purchased the WH31L lightning detector, since I have a few tall trees near the house. It runs about $66 USD.
So, what to look for in a weather station? Is a more expensive model that comes with everything a better deal than a less-expensive model plus the cost of add-ons? Do you need absolute accuracy, or will you be OK with maybe being a half-degree off sometimes? Where do you plan to put it--on the roof, fence post, pole in the middle of your yard? Are you interested in sharing your weather data? As I am fond of saying, "Google is your friend" and you can find many opinions--professional and amateur--about almost any model. If you use social media, try searching for weather or weather station groups to follow and/or join. YouTube is also a solid source for info, for everything from set-up to general reviews to comparisons.