What Weather Station Are You Using For My Property?
Last Update:Oct 19 2023 8:11pm • Est. Read Time:Est. Read Time: 3 MINSummary
Rachio controllers use Weather Intelligence features to help you save water. Are you receiving weather data from a preferred weather station? Is it coming from the Weather Network? Wondering how to select a personal weather station? This article might be helpful!
You can select what weather station we will pull our weather data from. From the Account icon (top right) > Homes > select the Home where the controller is located > Weather Source > then select Weather Station. there you will see the option to click on your weather station and change the selection.
Weather Intelligence Plus
If you prefer, Weather Intelligence Plus also allows you to use data from a single Weather Station. There are two main pieces of info related to PWS that you should be aware of if you select this option: Station ID & Distance. Read on to learn more.
- Station ID
The Station ID, is a unique identifier or name given to all weather stations. The Rachio app, it's going to indicate what station we are pulling data from. You will notice that we leave this option toggled off for Personal Weather Stations by default, and will therefore pull data from the closest national weather provider (Station IDs beginning with the letter 'K'). When this option is toggled on, we will gather data from both the nearest National Weather Station and the nearest Personal Weather Stations.
To locate the weather data for a specific weather station, simply navigate to "Change Weather Station" in your Rachio app, and select "More Info" beneath the station you wish to view. You can also Google search using the following templates:
To locate the weather data for your Rachio, simply Google searches the following:
National Weather Stations (NWS)
https://forecast-v3.weather.gov/obs/[station_ID]/historyExample: https://w1.weather.gov/data/obhistory/KECP.html (notice the station ID is all capitals)
Personal Weather Stations that start with PWS_
http://www.pwsweather.com/obs/[station_name].htmlExample: http://www.pwsweather.com/obs/IROZEUS.html (be sure to remove the 'PWS_')
- Distance
This is going to indicate how far the weather station we are using is from your property--specifically your latitude and longitude. You will notice that this distance will change based on whether the data is being pulled from an official National Weather Station (NWS), or a Personal Weather Station (PWS).
Some important things to note:
- Weather data from a PWS is generally more local and timely but can be less reliable.
- Weather data from National Weather Stations can be further from your location, and therefore less accurate to your specific micro-climate, but the data will be more consistent and reliable.
- When the PWS feature is toggled on, we will most likely be pulling our data from a PWS, as these are generally closer than NWS. If a PWS goes down for a certain period of time, we will immediately gather data from the local national service. We will never be gathering from both at the same time.
Personal Weather Stations are most likely run by a neighbor, or someone in your area, so the station could be glitchy or unkempt. Please note that the data could be inconsistent. To parlay this point, we ask that if you toggle this option on, please review your weather and water delays to see if they are accurate. If you believe the data is wrong, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at support@rachio.com and we will be happy to research our database and reach out to our weather provider with any issues.
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