Black Friday has arrived, setting the stage for a shopping show-down before December holidays arrive. Have someone in your life that loves weather or Earth sciences and not sure what to get them? Or perhaps you’re shopping for yourself with some gift cards you were gifted? We’ve compiled this list of just over a dozen interesting gifts at all sorts of price points for you to explore.
Note: Weatherboy may receive a commission for the purchase of these items.
These flashy, colorful socks feature colors and patterns similar to that of television RADAR weather maps. These cozy socks are made up of 86% Polyester, 10% Cotton, 3% Elastic, and 1% Spandex, making it suitable for typical machine wash. And these socks are made right here in the United States: Orlando, Florida specifically, home of many vibrant weather RADAR images. And for under $15, these socks are fashionable and affordable.
Indoor Thunderclouds with Customizable, Changeable Color Lightning
Now you can have a thunderstorm flashing away in your home without getting wet -or struck by a bolt of lightning! This kit allows you to construct a sophisticated thunderstorm cloud in your home, illuminating it through color-changing LED lighting. Whether you want your wall or ceilings to feature the tradition blue-white lightning flash or perhaps a red-orange armageddon scene, this kit provides you many customizable options to set the scene you want. And even once it is set, you can alter the colors again through a companion mobile app. The whole kit is available for less than $200.
Weather Radio with Weather Alerts
Weather Radios make the perfect holiday gift; they’re very affordable and everyone can use one to keep themselves and their families safe. Unlike TV, landline phones, and cell phones which experience power or network interruptions in severe weather, this specially designed weather radio connects to signals from your nearest National Weather Service. In addition to keeping you posted with the latest forecasts and conditions, these weather radios also turn on and sound an alarm when a life threatening weather hazard is impacting your local area. When the National Weather Service issues such an advisory for your area, such as a Tornado Warning, a Hurricane Warning, or a Blizzard Warning, it will turn on, sound an alarm, and display on the screen what type of warning is issued. And thanks to the AA batteries on-board for battery back-up, the radio works even when the power doesn’t. This radar is also affordable and sells for under $30.
Electric Hand Warmers are great for anyone caught in the cold. These rechargeable OCOOPA Modular Hand Warmers, available for under $40, feature a 10000mAh Battery Replaceable Handwarmer that provide up to 15 hours of warmth, with 4 levels of heat that could get as high as 145 degrees. This is the perfect gift to keep in a pocket for the camper, hunter, outdoor enthusiast, or anyone else that would like to keep their fingers and themselves warm on a chilly day. And in the summer, rather than use these as a heat source, it becomes a powerful back-up battery for your portable electronics with its USB-C port. And if black isn’t your color, you can buy these in assorted colors and fashions too. These are available for less than $35.
A mix of art and science, this beautiful teardrop-shaped glass vessel is filled with a solution of various chemicals that crystalize based on changes with atmospheric pressure and temperature. This glass, which sells for under $35, is 4.3″ x 7.5″ and sits on a wooden base. First invented by 18th Century British Navy Lieutenant Robert FitzRoy, this device was used on boats in the 19th century to help inform captains of changing weather conditions. The state of crystals in the sealed glass container show whether sunny, snow, thunderstorms, rain, or clouds are in the forecast. Even if the weather isn’t changing, the interesting glass makes a good conversation piece or sculpture in your home.
Bring the museum and planetarium experience home to your living room! For under $110, you can bring the outside night sky in and project stars, constellations, and distant planets and galaxies onto your ceiling and walls in the comfort of your own home! Using mini 6k HD projection technology, you can insert various discs into this machine to produce different views inside. The LaView Star projector uses high light transmission (LTR) optical lenses and 3 Level light adjustable green laser light. Their galaxy projector has an ultra-large projection area of up to 130 square feet which provides an incredibly lifelike image. You can also creative an immersive atmospheric experience: LaView Night Light projector brings instant mood ambiance to the party, gaming room, meditation space, or mesmerizing night light. You can also use the projector on your kid’s bedtime stories. Enjoy dining under the stars, create a relaxing spa environment, or accent your home theater in seconds.
Not a fan of lightning but love the look of puffy white clouds? Instead of bringing in a thunderstorm indoor, you can bring these fun puffy pendant light clouds into your home. With these lights available for less than $35, you can add some “atmosphere” to any room and put in clouds in the biggest weather fan’s personal domain. These lights have an adjustable height up to 4.9 feet, giving you the ability to add different layers of clouds to your room. They’re illuminated by an energy efficient LED light.
Kestrel makes measuring the wind anywhere outside a breeze. We previously sent a meteorologist from our team to Boothwyn, Pennsylvania where Nielsen-Kellerman is headquartered. There, the 90-employee company created by engineers Richard Kellerman and Paul Nielsen designs, manufacturers, and distributes rugged, waterproof environmental and sports performance instruments including the Krestrel anemometer.
This literally handy device displays maximum, current, and average wind speed, wind chill, and air/snow/water temperature on its clear, large LCD display. Plus this device is waterproof (IP-67), floats, and is drop-tested to military standards (MIL-STD-810G). And this high-tech super-durable device is available for under $100.
Pocket-Sized Lightning Detector
Another potentially life-saving holiday gift is this cool palm-sized gadget. This portable lightning detector warns you if there’s lightning around and even shows you the estimated distance to the bolt. This device has a range of roughly 25 miles. For less than $45, this cool stocking-stuffer sized holiday gift is perfect for the weather enthusiast… or for the fisherman, coach, hiker, or hunter or gardener looking to stay safe when thunderstorms are around. Don’t forget: when thunder roars, head indoors! Lightning can kill!
For under $15, this kit provides kids with the opportunity to conduct various studies/experiments dealing with weather. A great stocking stuffer or present for the young person passionate about weather. You can experiment with static electricity which causes lightning, build a desktop water cycle model, and even make clouds in your palm. Watch air currents that produce wind and study the greenhouse effect and acid rain. This kit is designed for kids 5 and older.
There are lots of weather stations on the market. We’re recommending this one because it’s easy to use and set-up and there’s no serviceable moving parts that would need work in the future. And it’s so versatile and easily integrates with other systems you may have around your home. Or for the weather enthusiast, it gives them excellent accurate data on their fingertips wherever they are.
The Tempest Weatherflow system records:
– Outdoor temp, humidity, dew point, feels like temp.
– Station pressure and sea-level pressure
– Wind speed, wind direction, average and gusts
– Lightning activity (strikes and distance up to 25 miles)
– Rain onset, intensity, duration and accumulation
– DeltaT, wind chill, wet bulb temp, air density
– UV index, brightness, solar radiation
The device has iOS and Android apps and comes with a free personal weather page where you can observe your conditions or share them with others. It also works with smart home devices like Alexa, Google Home, IFTTT and more. And it integrates with websites like Weather Underground. This sophisticated device sells for under $270.
Is the forecast too mild or dry for snow? Trying to figure out a unique gift for the snow lover in your life? Or want to create a blizzard in your bedroom? Now you can own your very own snow making machine for under $100!
This snow machine features an output of 2, 000 CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute) at 6.5-10 feet distance to create a wintry scene or snowflakes drifting about in the air before they settle to the ground. The fluid it uses is a non-toxic water-based formula which is safe for kids, pets, and plants, and contains no harsh chemicals. And unlike real snow, it can be used at temperatures well above freezing.
