Tools to Forecast Weather

Fair or Foul? How to Use a Barometer to Forecast the Weather
https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/fair-or-foul-how-to-use-a-barometer/

Finding out the weather forecast these days is as easy as turning on the TV or checking your phone. That wasn’t always the case, though. In the hundreds of years before television and even radio, people used more rudimentary devices to predict what the skies would bring in the coming days.

One of those tools was the barometer. Once common in aircraft, ships, and ordinary households across the world, it predicts approaching weather by measuring changes in air pressure. While technological advancements have replaced the humble barometer in meteorological circles, they’re still fun to have at home and know how to read.

In this article we offer a primer on the history of barometers, how they work, and how to use one today to predict the weather. Barometers allow you to feel more connected to the natural forces at work outside your window, and free you from being completely reliant on those oft-wrong apps and local forecasts (studies have shown that local meteorologists inflate the chances for poor weather because it garners better ratings!)   ---CONTINUED---

This reminded me that as I kid (more than a few years ago) I had a science project for extra credit to create a barometer. After a bit of poking around the nets, I found this nice little article:

https://easyscienceforkids.com/make-your-own-barometer/

Basically you need a cup/jar, a balloon, a plastic straw and some adhesive to affix the straw to the balloon. It's not going to give you millibar accuracy, but you can tell if pressure has risen or fallen since your last reading quite easily.