Storm SentinelWiFi desktop weather station
from $109.99
Buy on Etsy (opens in a new tab)Live NWS weather with actual personality.
Storm Sentinel sits on your desk and quietly does what you keep opening three apps to do: it watches the sky. Live conditions, forecasts, severe-weather alerts, and radar arrive straight from the National Weather Service (the same source meteorologists use) and cycle across a bright 3.5″ color touchscreen.
Two things make it unlike any other weather station. The Outdoor Score compresses the whole forecast into one honest 0-to-99 number: green means picture-perfect, red means stay inside. And a storm-cloud mascot with eleven moods reacts to the weather in real time: sunny and smiling, stormy and alarmed, snowy and cozy. Its rotating quips include “Hydrate or evaporate.”
from $109.99
The final price, colors and shipping are on the listing, and checkout stays on Etsy.
Buy on Etsy (opens in a new tab)Checkout happens on Etsy. This opens the Storm Sentinel listing in a new tab.
December 18 is the last day I will ship holiday orders. Order by Thursday, December 17 to get your holiday orders on time.
- No subscription
- Setup in a few minutes, nothing to install
- Free OTA updates
- 90-day warranty
ON THE SCREEN
Five rotating screens
Current conditions
Big temperature, Outdoor Score, feels-like, wind, humidity, and pressure.
36-hour forecast
Temperature trend graph with precipitation chances.
5-day forecast
Highs, lows, and official NWS descriptions.
Watches & warnings
Live severe-weather alerts for your location.
Live radar
A regional radar snapshot, refreshed every few minutes.
Live from the workshop sky
CONNECTINGACQUIRING NWS SIGNAL…
This is the actual National Weather Service feed for Olive Branch, Mississippi, where every Storm Sentinel is built. Your device shows this for your own zip code.
THE GOOD STUFF
Why weather people love it
-
NWS data, not a mystery API
Forecasts, watches, and warnings come directly from the National Weather Service.
-
The Outdoor Score
One 0–99 number that answers “should I be outside right now?” at a glance.
-
A mascot with moods
Eleven expressions that track the sky, plus rotating weather one-liners.
-
Real severe-weather alerts
Active watches and warnings for your exact location, as NWS issues them.
-
Nothing to install or sign up for
Pay once on Etsy. Setup happens in your phone’s browser.
SPECS
The fine print, printed large
| Display | 3.5″ color resistive touchscreen, 480 × 320; tap to skip between screens (cycles every 12 s) |
|---|---|
| Data source | National Weather Service (covers the lower 48 US states) |
| WiFi | 2.4 GHz networks (not 5 GHz) |
| Power | 5 V over USB. USB-A to USB-C cable, about 3 feet (36 inches), included; no wall adapter, so it runs from a USB-A phone charger or a computer’s USB-A port |
| Updates | Free over-the-air firmware updates, automatic |
| Built in | Olive Branch, Mississippi (assembled and tested by hand) |
Choose your enclosure from Red, Blue, Gray and Black, plus Semi-Transparent (a frosted look that shows off the electronics) and Glow-in-the-Dark (charges in daylight, glows softly at night).
IN THE BOX
- Storm Sentinel unit, fully assembled
- Removable desktop stand
- USB-A to USB-C cable, about 3 feet (36 inches)
- Stylus (the touchscreen works fine with fingers, too)
No wall adapter is included. The cable’s USB-A plug goes into a USB-A phone charger or a computer’s USB-A port.
SETUP
- Plug it into a USB-A phone charger or a computer’s USB-A port with the included cable.
- On your phone, join the “StormSentinel-Setup” WiFi network. If the setup page doesn’t open by itself, open a browser and go to 192.168.4.1.
- Enter your home WiFi name, password, and zip code, then tap Save & Connect.
- Done. It restarts, joins your WiFi and shows your local weather within a minute or two.
START OVER
After a move, a new router or a new WiFi password:
- Hold the screen for 5 seconds.
- The screen says Entering Setup... and it restarts into setup mode.
- Join “StormSentinel-Setup” from your phone again and enter your WiFi name, password and zip code, the same as the first time.
The manual · PDF
Storm Sentinel manual
The full PDF guide to your Storm Sentinel, free to read or keep.
QUESTIONS
The ones that reach my inbox
Does it work everywhere, or only in certain places?
Storm Sentinel works anywhere in the lower 48 US states: the National Weather Service covers all of it. Setup asks for a zip code, so it shows the weather for your house rather than a nearby city’s.
Does Storm Sentinel show weather alerts?
Yes. Storm Sentinel shows the active National Weather Service watches and warnings for your location on its Watches & Warnings screen, and the screen reads No Active Alerts when there are none. For anything safety-critical, follow official National Weather Service guidance directly.
Is the Outdoor Score a safety index?
Storm Sentinel’s Outdoor Score is not a safety index. It is a comfort-and-enjoyment score answering “will I like being out there?” For warnings, evacuations, and anything safety-critical, always follow official National Weather Service guidance directly, which the device shows in full on its Watches & Warnings screen.
Why does the Outdoor Score stop at 99 instead of 100?
Storm Sentinel’s Outdoor Score is capped at 99 by deliberate design. The comment in the source code says it plainly: nothing is ever truly perfect. A 99 means the sky has done everything you could reasonably ask of it. The last point is reserved for a day that doesn’t exist.
What kind of WiFi does it need?
PlankLabs gadgets join a 2.4 GHz WiFi network. They don’t speak 5 GHz-only WiFi. That is the radio in the silicon rather than a software choice, and it comes with a consolation prize: 2.4 GHz travels farther and through walls better than 5 GHz, which suits a gadget that lives wherever it looks best rather than next to the router.
What happens if a data source changes or shuts down?
I make every reasonable effort to keep your PlankLabs gadget working, and updates arrive over the air on their own, but nobody can guarantee that an outside data feed will exist forever, and most gadgets depend on one. The hardware is always yours, and the data is for delight and general awareness, never for navigation, emergencies or safety-critical decisions.
FIELD REPORTS
From verified Etsy buyers
5 out of 5 stars
“Nice job on a great package. If you are a weather geek or just like to be in the know without clicking something, this is great.”
5 out of 5 stars
“The best weather gift i ever got ! Nice and bright and works great! Thank you.”
5 out of 5 stars
“I enjoy watching the screens cycle through. Well made!”
5 out of 5 stars
“As described. Totally love it. Easy set-up.”
Adopt a Storm Sentinel
The Etsy listing has the final price, enclosure colors and shipping, and checkout happens on Etsy with full buyer protection.
Honest fine print: this gadget displays live data from third-party sources. I’ll always do everything I can to keep the data flowing. The FAQ explains exactly what that means.
from $109.99
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