I would like to build a weather web app something like www.swellnet.com/reports/australia/queensland/north-stradbroke-island. The app will hit a REST API, store data in a MySQL database and using PHP/JS/CSS/HTML to render the output.
Which technology out there is best to build this kind of app? I heard a lot about NodeJS/Laravel etc, but I don't know which one is best to do the job.
I have a strong background with PHP jQuery etc. But haven't touch any of those new language/framework.
Can someone who has experience with this kind of app give me some idea on where to start?
If you have strong PHP backgrounds then definitely Laravel should be your first choice it is not only well designed but also has great documentation and community support.
Laravel is also very easy to learn and development is very streamlined.
Do it in whatever makes you comfortable, certainly the "vanilla" PHP stack you describe is up to the task. If you want to stretch a little, try a new framework php framework like Laravel. It appears to have good support for creating restful apis and it will probably save you a lot of work over trying to do that in vanilla PHP.
Modern frameworks are converging on a way of working that make for more productive coding. Ultimately you will benefit, if you aren't discouraged by the learning curve.
I often like to stretch out a bit and learn something on a new project.
Node may or may not be too much of a stretch. Look at some tutorials or documentation. The asynchronous programming model takes a bit of getting used to. Personally I like the gains I get from using the same language on the client and the server (and even using the same code on both).
As a developer part of your job is to weigh the risks of adopting a new technology vs the benefits.