Pro WeatherHow to Set Up Weather Alerts for Your Home Weather Station
Your weather station collects data every minute, but you do not have time to watch it constantly. The real value comes from being notified when something important happens: a temperature drop that signals a frost risk, a wind gust that might damage property, a rain rate that suggests flooding, or an air quality spike that affects health.
This guide shows how to set up automated weather alerts for your Davis station, from built-in options to more flexible approaches.
What you need for any alert system
Alerts work on a simple principle: when a sensor reading crosses a threshold you define, you receive a notification. The threshold could be a high temperature, a low temperature, a wind gust speed, a rain rate, or an air quality index value.
The data comes from your station, which needs to be online and reporting to WeatherLink. From there, an alert system checks the readings and sends notifications.
Option 1: Pro Weather email alerts
If you use Pro Weather, alerts are built into the dashboard and do not require any additional setup beyond defining your thresholds.
To configure them:
- Open your Pro Weather dashboard and go to Alerts
- Choose a sensor type: Temperature, Wind Gust, Rain Rate, or PM2.5 Air Quality
- Set your threshold values. For example, temperature alerts can fire when the reading goes above OR below a value, so you can be notified of both heat and frost risks
- Choose whether the alert fires on a single reading or requires multiple consecutive readings (useful for ignoring sensor glitches)
- Enter the email address where you want to receive notifications
The alerts are edge-triggered: you get one notification when the threshold is crossed, and another when the value returns to normal. This avoids flooding your inbox with repeated messages while the condition persists.
Temperature alerts are useful for:
- Frost warnings in spring and autumn
- Heat warnings during summer
- Greenhouse or cold-frame monitoring
Wind alerts help you know when:
- Gusts reach damaging speeds
- Your area is experiencing a wind event worth documenting
- Conditions are unsafe for outdoor activities
Rain alerts notify you when:
- Heavy rain starts, which could indicate flooding
- A storm is passing through your area
- Your rain gauge is actively measuring precipitation
PM2.5 alerts are valuable for:
- Wildfire smoke events
- Poor air quality days that affect outdoor exercise
- Monitoring local pollution spikes
Option 2: WeatherLink paid plan alerts
The WeatherLink Pro and Pro+ subscriptions include their own alert system. You can configure email and push notifications through the WeatherLink dashboard based on the same types of thresholds.
The limitation is that these alerts are tied to the WeatherLink platform and its interface. Your notifications come from WeatherLink, not from your own site or service.
Option 3: DIY alerts with the WeatherLink API
For maximum flexibility, you can build your own alert system using the WeatherLink v2 API. This is the most technical option but allows you to:
- Send alerts to multiple channels: email, SMS, Slack, Discord, or a custom webhook
- Apply complex logic, such as combining multiple sensor readings
- Log alert events to your own database for analysis
- Control every aspect of how and when notifications are sent
The basic approach is to periodically fetch current conditions from the API, compare the readings against your threshold values, and send a notification when a threshold is crossed. You could deploy this as a small script on a Raspberry Pi, a serverless function, or a scheduled task.
Comparison
| Feature | Pro Weather alerts | WeatherLink alerts | DIY API alerts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup time | Minutes, in-dashboard | Minutes, in WeatherLink | Hours of development |
| Notification channel | Email + push | Any (email, SMS, webhook) | |
| Threshold types | Temp, wind, rain, PM2.5 | Temp, wind, rain | Any sensor from API |
| Edge triggering | Yes (once when crossed) | Yes | You implement |
| Cost | Included with Pro Weather | Requires WeatherLink Pro/Pro+ | Free + your development time |
| Maintenance | None | None | You maintain the script |
Which should you choose?
For most Davis owners, Pro Weather alerts hit the sweet spot: they are quick to configure, require no coding, and cover the most useful sensor types. The edge-triggered behaviour means you get notified when something changes without being spammed.
If you need alerts sent to a channel other than email or want to combine multiple sensors with custom logic, a DIY approach with the WeatherLink API gives you full control. Just be aware that you are taking on the development and maintenance of that system.
If you already have a WeatherLink Pro or Pro+ subscription, their built-in alerts may already meet your needs, but they are tied to the WeatherLink ecosystem.
Ready to set up alerts?
If you use Pro Weather, open your dashboard and configure your first alert. It takes about a minute. Not on Pro Weather yet? Start your site and your alerts will be ready alongside your live weather page in about five minutes.