Bear with us here for a moment, set aside your pragmatic sensibilities, and check out the Cryoscope concept by Robb Godshaw. It's a fascinating piece of technology which communicates the weather forecast in a tangible sense, the all-aluminum cube heated or cooled to the exact temperature fetched from online weather data!
The neutral state of the cube is about 85°F(30°C), which is perceived as neutral by the skin. The cube is then adjusted by the number of degrees that forecast differs from typical room temperature(73°F/23°C).
Admittedly, the Cryoscope is one of those wonderfully inventive, conceptual creations which likely will be a one-off exploration. But at least with smartphones and desktop apps, you can get both data and visual feedback about the weather at a glance right now, complete with pretty impressive animations making it clear whether a scarf or jacket is necessary:
Oregon Scientific's BA900 Crystal Weather Forecast Station offered a low-tech hardware solution (laser etched floating icons illuminated via LED like those clear paperweights available at gift shops), but it appears the device is now only available via eBay. Seems like an idea waiting to be revitalized with a higher tech finish by the minds over at Art. Lebedev Studio, and a lot cooler looking than most weather forecast clocks.
Images: Robb Me Blind
Must-See Small Cool Homes: Week Two
Beth's Romantic & Retro Residence
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Shaw's Original Fir...
How to Bake a Potato: Three Easy Methods
How To Cook Tender, Chewy Wheat Berries on the Stovetop
Note: According to the video, it's not "Cyroscope" but "Cryoscope," which makes a lot more sense.
This is great. It's often too much trouble to turn on a computer or wait for the radio forecast ("Traffic blah, blah, blah, blah, blah ... we'll have the weather forecast after these endlessly blathering, belly-button-gazing local news reports --" "NO! I want it NOW!!!!"). I can see myself shooting one hand out of bed, batting at the cube with my palm, and falling back into a semi-dream state for 15 minutes, envisioning how many layers I'll have to pack on after the shower.
But the big drawback of this product is that it doesn't tell you anything about precipitation. Maybe a next-gen Cryoscope could undulate for rain and jiggle for snow when touched.
Cremedela: forecast predicted high chances of incorrect spelling of above mentioned device. Corrected to "cryoscope"!
It also doesn't seem to factor in wind chill or direct solar thermal radiation effects. After all, 65deg feels different indoors vs outdoors on a sunny day or on a cloudy day.
Or you could "feel the weather" by sticking your hand out of the window.
@ Cremedela: THAT was my exact thought when I read this.
I think it's a fun idea to be built in to an alarm clock or whatever.
@Muffingirl: True...but for someone who lives high up in an old apartment building with 100 year old windows that are kept closed, locked and curtained to keep the heat/ac trapped inside, I have to say, touching the cube would be easier.
My local weatherman could use one of these.
Or, an office with a window.
That's really cool! - though, bummer that it only goes down to 0*C -- it's -28*C where I am right now!
... though, I don't know why you'd even want to touch something that's -28 ...
i agree... touching something -28 would not be ideal. neither would touching something 110 in mid Mississippi summer.
Arizona's 100+deg temperatures, April to November:
Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!
It would be ...interesting... to put in a guest room. (With a note about how it works, and a warning!)
Kinda creepy, you ask me! How about a regular Brookstone (or wherever) indoor/outdoor thermometer? Works for us!
Love it!! I adore creative people and their inventions!
Wait - would it hurt to touch something that is 100 degrees? Because isn't your body temperature 98.6 degrees so that would just be little warmer.