This Weather Clock Displays Conditions in Terms Humans Actually Care About

You’re probably not a robot, and so you probably don’t care about the exact temperature outside or what the humidity index is. You don’t have a CPU that’s going to overheat at exactly 99°; you just want to know whether you should wear shorts or a parka, and if you need to bring an umbrella. So, it’s strange that weather reports come in the form of specific numbers, which forces you to then convert them into meaningful information. Fin Hopkins’ weather clock, on the other hand, displays the day’s conditions in human-centric terms.

Hopkins made the weather clock as a gift for their in-laws, who have been watching the kids for much of the summer in their cottage in Maine. As Hopkins explains, Mainers are “only approximately interested in the weather.” The exact temperature isn’t important, they just want to know how to prepare for the day. And that’s exactly what this beautiful laser-cut wood weather clock does — provides a lot of weather information in a way that’s actually useful.

The brain of the weather clock is a Raspberry Pi Zero W, which gathers weather data from the Dark Sky API. It then uses a variety of mechanisms to display that information. A set of planetary gears show if it’s cloudy, sunny, or rainy. A half-ring of LEDs shows the temperature high and low in 5° increments. A line of LEDs on the bottom indicates the forecast throughout the day, and there are even pointers that display the times when the ocean is at low tide. The weather clock is certainly aesthetically pleasing, but also manages to convey a huge amount of information in a concise, practical way.