This API is part of our service transition throughout 2025.
For complete details about changes and timeline, please see our main API documentation and API Transition FAQ.
Thank you for using Rain Viewer’s Weather Maps API. We appreciate your understanding as we focus our efforts on delivering the best precipitation prediction through our consumer applications.
Weather radar database is a dynamic JSON file that describes three main entities and their relations: * Weather radars * Weather radar images * Weather radar data sources
Note: The following documentation is maintained for existing patrons until the discontinuation date.
A database file consists of three root objects: * radars - an array of all known radars that is available under “Single Radar Mode” in Rain Viewer now.* images - an array of all images that are now trying to download (sometimes it will not happen).* providers - weather radar database sources.
Here is an example of the database file with one radar, one image, and one source description:
{
"radars": [
{
"id": "KESX",
"country": "US",
"state": "NV",
"location": "Las Vegas",
"status": 1,
"latitude": 35.7012894,
"longitude": -114.8918277,
"image_id": "KESX"
}
],
"images": [
{
"id": "KESX",
"provier_id": "Iastateedu",
"status": 0,
"projection": "EPSG:4326",
"products": "https://data.rainviewer.com/images/KESX/0_products.json",
"frequency": 240
}
],
"providers": [
{
"id": "Iastateedu",
"name": "Iowa Environmental Mesonet",
"description": "Iowa State University, Iowa Environmental Mesonet.",
"url": "https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/docs/nexrad_composites/"
}
]
}
⚠️ Available only until December 31, 2025
| key | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| id | Inner radar identifier. Sometimes equal to the ICAO airport code, sometimes we choose it at our own discretion. Values: String(8) | SATAI |
| country | ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1alpha-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1_alpha-2) _Values: String(2) | US |
| state | State of the country if applicable Values: String(255) | Hawaii |
| location | Name of the radar or its location Values: String(255) | KLIA Airport |
| status | Not used Values: Tinyint(1) | 1 |
| latitude | Latitude of the weather radar station, WSG84 Values: Float | 35.7012894 |
| longitude | Longitude of the weather radar station, WSG84 Values: Float | -114.8918277 |
| image_id | ID of image file, which contains the data of this radar. Sometimes we download composite images that show the data from several radar stations at once. Example: UK radar image Values: String(8) | UKCOMP2 |
⚠️ Available only until December 31, 2025
| key | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| id | Image identifier. Most of the time it is equal to the Radar ID object. Values: String(8) | USCOMP |
| provider_id | ID of provider object from this database. Values: String(64) | Idgobmkg |
| status | Status of this image. 0 - not used in composite maps, 1 - used in composite maps. Values: Tinyint(1) | 1 |
| projection | Source image projection. Values: String(64) | AEQD |
| products | Link to the products.json file when you can get all images of this radar. Values: String(255) | https://data.rainviewer.com/images/KESX/0_products.json |
| frequency | Typical update frequency in seconds. Zero if not updated for a long time. Values: Int | 600 |
⚠️ Available only until December 31, 2025
| key | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| id | Provider identifier. Reversed domain name with a few exceptions. Values: String(255) | Mxgobcnasmn |
| name | Official name of the provider in native language. Values: String(255) | 中央氣象局全球資訊網 |
| description | Description of the radar source, typically in English. Values: String(255) | Taiwan Central Weather Bureau |
| url | Link to the page with the radar data on this source. Values: String(255) | https://meteo.gov.ua/en/33345/radar |
