WeatherFlow-2-MQTT for Home Assistant

This project monitors the UDP socket (50222) from a WeatherFlow Hub, and publishes the data to a MQTT Server. Data is formatted in a way that, it supports the MQTT Discovery format for Home Assistant, so a sensor will created for each entity that WeatherFlow sends out, if you have MQTT Discovery enabled.

Everything runs in a pre-build Docker Container, so installation is very simple, you only need Docker installed on a computer and a MQTT Server setup somewhere in your network. If you run the Supervised version of Home Assistant, you will have easy access to both.ß

There is support for both the AIR & SKY devices and the TEMPEST device.

Table of Contents

1. Installation
2. Docker Setup
   1. Docker Volume
   2. Docker Environment Variables
3. Available Sensors
   1. Sensor Structure
   2. High and Low Values
4. Creating a Home Assistant Weather Entity

Installation

• Ensure Docker is setup and running
• Ensure there is a MQTT Server available
• Open a Terminal on the Machine you want to run the Docker container on.
• Make a new Directory: mkdir weatherflow2mqtt (or some other name) and change to that directory.
• If you don't want all sensors setup, copy the config_example.yaml file from this repo to that directory, and rename it to config.yaml. Then add or remove the sensors you want from the available sensors list. If you don't do this, all sensors from the Available Sensors will be added.
• Now start the Docker Container with the parameters described under docker-setup

If everything is setup correctly with MQTT and Home Assistant, you should now start seeing the sensors show up in HA. NOTE, it can take up to 1 min after startup, before all sensors are populated with data.

Docker Setup

The below command will pull the latest docker image and start WeatherFlow2MQTT for timezone Europe/Copenhagen and save data in the directory you are placed in when you launch the command. Ensure that you have replaced the Environment variables with your specific data. See description below.

If you are using docker-compose you can use the docker-compose.yml file and make the modifications for your environment.

docker run -d \
--name=weatherflow2mqtt --restart=unless-stopped \
-v $(pwd):/usr/local/config \
-p 0.0.0.0:50222:50222/udp \
-e TZ=Europe/Copenhagen \
-e TEMPEST_DEVICE=True \
-e UNIT_SYSTEM=metric \
-e LANGUAGE=en \
-e RAPID_WIND_INTERVAL=0 \
-e DEBUG=False \
-e ELEVATION=0 \
-e WF_HOST=0.0.0.0 \
-e WF_PORT=50222 \
-e MQTT_HOST=127.0.0.1 \
-e MQTT_PORT=1883 \
-e MQTT_USERNAME= \
-e MQTT_PASSWORD= \
-e MQTT_DEBUG=False \
-e ADD_FORECAST=False \
-e STATION_ID= \
-e STATION_TOKEN= \
-e FORECAST_INTERVAL=30 \
briis/weatherflow2mqtt:latest

The container is build for both Intel and ARM platforms, so it should work on most HW types. Please create an issue, if there is a platform for which it does not work.

Docker Volume

-v YOUR_STORAGE_AREA:/usr/local/config Please replace YOUR_STORAGE_AREA with a directory where Docker will have read and write access. It is also in this directory that you must place the config.yaml file if you don't want all the sensors (See Installation). Once the program runs, a SQLite Database with the name weatherflow2mqtt.db will be created in this directory. This database is used to hold some calculated values, store temporary data used for calculations and to ensure that you don't start from 0 if you have to restart Home Assistant or the container.

Docker Environment Variables

A description of the Environment Variables available for this container. All of them have a default value, so you only need to add the onces where you want to change that.

• TZ: Set your local Timezone. It is important that you use the right timezone here, or else some of the calculations done by the container will not be correct. Default Timezone is Europe/Copenhagen (Required)
• TEMPEST_DEVICE: If you have a Tempest Weather Station set this to True. If False, the program will assume you have the older AIR and SKY units. Default is True
• UNIT_SYSTEM: Enter imperial or metric. This will determine the unit system used when displaying the values. Default is metric
• LANGUAGE: Use this to set the language for Wind Direction cardinals and other sensors with text strings as state value. These strings will then be displayed in HA in the selected language. See section Supported Languages
• RAPID_WIND_INTERVAL: The weather stations delivers wind speed and bearing every 2 seconds. If you don't want to update the HA sensors so often, you can set a number here (in seconds), for how often they are updated. Default is 0, which means data are updated when received from the station.
• ELEVATION: Set the hight above sea level for where the station is placed. This is used when calculating some of the sensor values. Station elevation plus Device height above ground. The value has to be in meters (meters = feet * 0.3048). Default is 0
• WF_HOST: Unless you have a very special IP setup or the Weatherflow hub is on a different network, you should not change this. Default is 0.0.0.0
• WF_PORT: Weatherflow always broadcasts on port 50222/udp, so don't change this. Default is 50222
• MQTT_HOST: The IP address of your mqtt server. Even though you have the MQTT Server on the same machine as this Container, don't use 127.0.0.1 as this will resolve to an IP Address inside your container. Use the external IP Address. Default value is 127.0.0.1 (Required)
• MQTT_PORT: The Port for your mqtt server. Default value is 1883
• MQTT_USERNAME: The username used to connect to the mqtt server. Leave blank to use Anonymous connection. Default value is blank
• MQTT_PASSWORD: The password used to connect to the mqtt server. Leave blank to use Anonymous connection. Default value is blank
• MQTT_DEBUG: Set this to True, to get some more mqtt debugging messages in the Container log file. Default value is False
• DEBUG: Set this to True to enable more debug data in the Container Log. Default is False
• ADD_FORECAST: Set this to True if you want to retrieve Forecast Data from WeatherFlow. If set to True, STATION_ID and STATION_TOKEN must be filled also. NOTE If this is enabled the component will access the Internet to get the Forecast data. Default value is False
• STATION_ID: Enter your Station ID for your WeatherFlow Station. Default value is blank.
• STATION_TOKEN: Enter your personal access Token to allow retrieval of data. If you don't have the token login with your account and create the token. NOTE You must own a WeatherFlow station to get this token. Default value is blank
• FORECAST_INTERVAL: The interval in minutes, between updates of the Forecast data. Default value is 30 minutes.
• briis/weatherflow2mqtt:<tag>: latest for the latest stable build, dev for the latest build (may not be stable due to development/testing build). Once dev build is verified latest build and dev will be identical. Latest features will be tested in dev build before released to latest.

Supported Languages

Currently these languages are supported for Wind Cardinals and other Text state strings:

• en: English
• da: Danish
• de: German
• fr: French

If you would like to assist in translating to a new language, do the following:

• From the translations directory on this Github Project, download the file en.json
• Rename the file to YourLanguageCode.json - example for Spanish rename it to es.json
• Edit the file and translate the strings
• Make a pull request in Github and attach the file.

Available Sensors

Here is the list of sensors that the program generates. Calculated Sensor means, if No, then data comes directly from the Weather Station, if yes, it is a sensor that is derived from some of the other sensors. For a copy ready list see further below

Sensor ID	Name	Description	Calculated Sensor	Input (Tempest)	Input (Air)	Input (Sky)	Default Units
air_density	Air Density	The Air density	Yes	obs[7], obs[6]	obs[2], obs[1]		kg/m^3
air_temperature	Temperature	Outside Temperature	No	obs[7]	obs[2]		C°
voltage_air	Voltage AIR	The voltage on the AIR unit (If present)	No		obs[6]		Volts
battery_air	Battery AIR	The battery level on the AIR unit (If present)	Yes		obs[6]		%
voltage_sky	Voltage SKY	voltage on the SKY unit (If present)	No			obs[8]	Volts
battery_sky	Battery SKY	The battery level on the SKY unit (If present)	Yes			obs[8]	%
voltage_tempest	Voltage TEMPEST	The voltage on the TEMPEST unit (If present)	No	obs[16]			Volts
battery_tempest	Battery TEMPEST	The battery level on the TEMPEST unit (If present)	Yes	obs[16]			%
battery_mode	Battery Mode	The battery operating mode on the TEMPEST unit (If present)	Yes	obs[16], obs[11]			https://help.weatherflow.com/hc/en-us/articles/360048877194-Solar-Power-Rechargeable-Battery
beaufort	Beaufort Scale	Beaufort scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land	Yes	obs[2]		obs[5]	#
delta_t	Delta T	Difference between Air Temperature and Wet Bulb Temperature	Yes	obs[7], obs[8], obs[6]	obs[2], obs[3], obs[1]		C°
dewpoint	Dew Point	Dewpoint in degrees	Yes	obs[7], obs[8]	obs{2], obs[3]		C°
dewpoint_description	Dewpoint Comfort Level	Textual representation of the Dewpoint value	Yes	dewpoint	dewpoint
feelslike	Feels Like Temperature	The apparent temperature, a mix of Heat Index and Wind Chill	Yes	obs[7], obs[8], wind_speed	obs[2], obs[3], wind_speed		C°
illuminance	Illuminance	How much the incident light illuminates the surface	No	obs[9]		obs[1]	Lux
lightning_strike_count	Lightning Count	Number of lightning strikes in the last minute	Yes	obs[15]	obs[4]		#
lightning_strike_count_1hr	Lightning Count (Last hour)	Number of lightning strikes during the last hour	Yes
lightning_strike_count_3hr	Lightning Count (3 hours)	Number of lightning strikes the last 3 hours	Yes
lightning_strike_count_today	Lightning Count (Today)	Number of lightning strikes current day	Yes
lightning_strike_distance	Lightning Distance	Distance of the last strike	No				km
lightning_strike_energy	Lightning Energy	Energy of the last strike	No
lightning_strike_time	Last Lightning Strike	When the last lightning strike occurred	Yes		seconds
precipitation_type	Precipitation Type	Can be one of None, Rain or Hail	No	obs[13]			0 = none, 1 = rain, 2 = hail, 3 = rain + hail (heavy rain)
rain_intensity	Rain Intensity	A descriptive text of how much is it raining right now	Yes	rain_rate		rain_rate
rain_rate	Rain Rate	How much is it raining right now	Yes	obs[12]		obs[3]	mm/h
rain_start_time	Last Rain	When was the last time it rained	No	rain_start		rain_start	seconds
rain_today	Rain Today	Total rain for the current day. (Reset at midnight)	Yes	rain_today		rain_today	mm
rain_yesterday	Rain Yesterday	Total rain for yesterday (Reset at midnight)	Yes	rain_yesterday		rain_yesterday	mm
rain_duration_today	Rain Duration (Today)	Total rain minutes for the current day. (Reset at midnight)	Yes	rain_duration_today		rain_duration_today	minutes
rain_duration_yesterday	Rain Duration (Yesterday)	Total rain minutes yesterday	Yes	rain_duration_yesterday		rain_duration_yesterday	minutes
relative_humidity	Humidity	Relative Humidity	No	obs[8]		obs[3]	%
sealevel_pressure	Station Pressure	Preasure measurement at Sea Level	Yes	obs[6], elevation	obs[1], elevation		MB
pressure_trend	Pressure Trend	Returns Steady, Falling or Rising determined by the rate of change over the past 3 hours	trend_text	trend_text			Yes
solar_radiation	Solar Radiation	Electromagnetic radiation emitted by the sun	No	obs[11]		obs[10]	W/m^2
station_pressure	Station Pressure	Pressure measurement where the station is located	No	obs[6]	obs[1]		MB
temperature_description	Temperature Level	Textual representation of the Outside Air Temperature value	Yes	obs[7]	obs[2]		Text
uptime	Uptime	How long has the HUB been running	No	hub_status/uptime
uv	UV Index	The UV index	No	obs[10]		obs[2]	Index
uv_description	UV Level	Textual representation of the UV Index value	Yes	obs[10]			obs[2]
visibility	Visibility	Distance to the horizon	Yes	elevation, obs[7], obs[8]	elevation, obs[2], obs[3]		km
wetbulb	Wet Bulb Temperature	Temperature of a parcel of air cooled to saturation (100% relative humidity)	Yes	obs[7], obs[8], obs[6]	obs[2], obs[3], obs[1]		C°
wet_bulb_globe_temperature	Wet Bulb Globe Temperature	The WetBulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) is a measure of the heat stress in direct sunlight, which takes into account: temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle and cloud cover (solar radiation).	Yes	obs[7], obs[8], obs[6], obs[11]			C°
wind_bearing	Wind Bearing	Current measured Wind bearing in degrees	No				Degrees
wind_bearing_avg	Wind Bearing Avg	The average wind bearing in degrees	No	obs[4]		obs[7]	Degrees
wind_direction	Wind Direction	Current measured Wind bearing as compass symbol	Yes				Cardinal
wind_direction_avg	Wind Direction Avg	The average wind direction as a compass string	Yes	obs[4]		obs[7]	Cardinal
wind_gust	Wind Gust	Highest wind speed for the last minute	No	obs[3]		obs[6]	m/s
wind_lull	Wind Lull	Lowest wind for the last minute	No	obs[1]		obs[4]	m/s
wind_speed	Wind Speed	Current measured Wind Speed	No				m/s
wind_speed_avg	Wind Speed Avg	Average wind speed for the last minute	No	obs[2]		obs[5]	m/s
weather	Weather	Only available if Forecast option is enabled. State will be current condition, and forecast data will be in the attributes.	No

Sensor Structure

sensors:
  - air_density
  - air_temperature
  - voltage_air
  - battery_air
  - voltage_sky
  - battery_sky
  - voltage_tempest
  - battery_tempest
  - battery_mode # Only for Tempest Devices
  - beaufort
  - dewpoint
  - dewpoint_description
  - delta_t
  - feelslike
  - illuminance
  - lightning_strike_count
  - lightning_strike_count_1hr
  - lightning_strike_count_3hr
  - lightning_strike_count_today
  - lightning_strike_distance
  - lightning_strike_energy
  - lightning_strike_time
  - precipitation_type
  - pressure_trend
  - rain_intensity
  - rain_rate
  - rain_start_time
  - rain_today
  - rain_yesterday
  - rain_duration_today
  - rain_duration_yesterday
  - relative_humidity
  - sealevel_pressure
  - solar_radiation
  - station_pressure
  - temperature_description
  - uptime
  - uv
  - uv_description
  - visibility
  - wetbulb
  - wet_bulb_globe_temperature
  - wind_bearing
  - wind_bearing_avg
  - wind_direction
  - wind_direction_avg
  - wind_gust
  - wind_lull
  - wind_speed
  - wind_speed_avg
  - weather

High and Low Values

For selected sensors high and low values are calculated and published to the attributes of the sensor. Currently daily, monthly and all-time values are calculated, but future values are planned. Only the sensors where it is relevant, will get a low value calculated. See the table further down, for the available sensors and what values to expect.

Here are the current attributes, that will be applied to the selected sensor:

Attribute Name	Description
max_day	Maximum value for the current day. Reset at midnight.
max_day_time	UTC time when the max value was recorded. Reset at midnight.
min_day	Minimum value for the current day. Reset at midnight.
min_day_time	UTC time when the min value was recorded. Reset at midnight.
max_month	Maximum value for the current month. Reset when new month.
max_month_time	UTC time when the max value was recorded. Reset when new month.
min_month	Minimum value for the current month. Reset when new month.
min_month_time	UTC time when the min value was recorded. Reset when new month.
max_all	Maximum value ever recorded. Updated at midnight every day.
max_all_time	UTC time when the all-time max value was recorded. Updated at midnight every day.
min_all	Minimum value ever recorded. Updated at midnight every day.
min_all_time	UTC time when the all-time min value was recorded. Updated at midnight every day.

The following sensors are displaying High and Low values:

Sensor ID	High Value	Low Value
air_temperature	Yes	Yes
dewpoint	Yes	Yes
illuminance	Yes	No
lightning_strike_count_today	Yes	No
lightning_strike_energy	Yes	No
rain_rate	Yes	No
rain_duration_today	Yes	No
relative_humidity	Yes	Yes
sealevel_pressure	Yes	Yes
solar_radiation	Yes	No
uv	Yes	No
wind_gust	Yes	No
wind_lull	Yes	No
wind_speed_avg	Yes	No

Creating a Home Assistant Weather Entity

If you have enabled the Forecast option, then there is a possibility to create a Weather Entity, that can be used in all the different Lovelace Cards there is for Weather. We will do this by using the Weather Template. The naming of the sensors might vary based on your configuration, so check that if it does not work.

Edit configuration.yaml and insert the following:

weather:
  - platform: template
    name: My Local Weather
    condition_template: "{{ states('sensor.wf_weather') }}"
    temperature_template: "{{ states('sensor.wf_temperature') | float}}"
    humidity_template: "{{ states('sensor.wf_humidity')| int }}"
    pressure_template: "{{ states('sensor.wf_sea_level_pressure')| float }}"
    wind_speed_template: "{{ ( states('sensor.wf_wind_speed_avg') | float * 18 / 5 ) | round(2) }}"
    wind_bearing_template: "{{ states('sensor.wf_wind_bearing_avg')| int }}"
    visibility_template: "{{ states('sensor.wf_visibility')| float }}"
    forecast_template: "{{ state_attr('sensor.wf_weather', 'hourly_forecast') }}"

• The weather entity expects km/h when having metric units, so the above example converts m/s to km/h. If you are using imperial units, the line should just be {{ states('sensor.wf_wind_speed_avg') }}
• For the forecast_template you can either use hourly_forecast or daily_forecast to get Hourly or Day based forecast.

Setup Dev environment

virtualenv -p `which python3` env
source env/bin/activate
python setup.py install

Then you just need to export the configuration

export TZ="America/Toronto"
export TEMPEST_DEVICE="True"
export UNIT_SYSTEM="metric"
export LANGUAGE="en"
export RAPID_WIND_INTERVAL="0"
export DEBUG="True"
export EXTERNAL_DIRECTORY="."
export ELEVATION="30"
export WF_HOST="0.0.0.0"
export WF_PORT="50222"
export MQTT_HOST="..."
export MQTT_PORT="1883"
export MQTT_DEBUG="False"
export ADD_FORECAST="True"
export STATION_ID="..."
export STATION_TOKEN="..."
export FORECAST_INTERVAL="30"
export MQTT_USERNAME="..."
export MQTT_PASSWORD="..."

Then you can run the daemon with

weatherflow2mqt