A while back I mentioned that I received an Arduino for my birthday, I would like to continue on that topic and show what you can throw together with one.

Currently in the morning I check the weather just before I leave for work to see if I need to pack a (rain)jacket. This is annoying since I am often in a hurry and just want to get out the door, not open a browser and hunt around for the weather online. I decided that I could find a good nerdy solution to my problem using the Arduino.

The first thing I did was order an Ethernet module for the Arduino. This is a block you can stack on top of the Arduino and gives it network connectivity. On top of that, I stacked a prototyping board so I wouldn't need to do any soldering. I plugged a few LEDs into the prototyping board and the hardware bit was done.

For the software I coded a small program that checks the Environment Canada website and downloads the current weather. After checking the weather the Arduino will turn on a red light if it is above 15 degrees outside (meaning I don't need a jacket), a green light if it is sunny (always a good sign), and blink a blue light if there is a chance of rain during the day (something I don't want to see).

While this is overly complicated and nerdy, it is a easy way for me to get todays weather forecast at a glance. I'd have to say that the one problem with this is that it looks like some form of improvised bomb timer. For the next steps in this project; I hope to gut an old clock, replace the mechanism with a motor, and the face with some weather symbols so I have something that looks a bit more elegant (and less dangerous).

Edit: I have also added a simple web server to the Arduino so I can check the weather and, in the future, update settings on the Arduino. You can see the current weather via my Arduino here.