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.
https://api.rainviewer.com/public/weather-maps.json
Contains the past (2 hours) and forecast (30 minutes) weather radar data and the past infrared satellite data (2 hours). Suitable to display in the applications, on the websites, or in any other mapping software. It can also be used as a source for the weather API.
Note: Some features will be phased out according to the timeline above.
Here is an example of the weather maps API file with two frames for each data section. The data inside the example is out of date and cannot be used in real queries. To get actual data, please open the API file directly.
{
"version": "2.0",
"generated": 1609402525,
"host": "https://tilecache.rainviewer.com",
"radar": {
"past": [
{
"time": 1609401600,
"path": "/v2/radar/1609401600"
},
{
"time": 1609402200,
"path": "/v2/radar/1609402200"
}
],
"nowcast": [
{
"time": 1609402800,
"path": "/v2/radar/nowcast_6b3c5a659cf4"
},
{
"time": 1609403400,
"path": "/v2/radar/nowcast_dd3474d83b20"
}
]
},
"satellite": {
"infrared": [
{
"time": 1609401600,
"path": "/v2/satellite/0680143a9470"
},
{
"time": 1609402200,
"path": "/v2/satellite/ba88bf38ac55"
}
]
}
}
key | Description | Example |
---|---|---|
version | API Version. Values: String(8) Status: Available | “2.0.1” |
generated | Unix timestamp date (UTC) when this API file was generated. Useful for checking for updates. Values: Int(8) Status: Available | 1609402525 |
host | Host and protocol for the images. Values: String(255) Status: Available | https://tilecache.rainviewer.com |
radar | Weather radar maps. Values: Radar object Status: Partial - see below | |
satellite | Satellite maps. Values: Satellite object Status: ⚠️ Until Dec 31, 2025 |
key | Description | Example |
---|---|---|
past | Past weather radar frames. 2 hours, with 10-minute steps. Values: Array(Frame Object) Status: Available | |
nowcast | Future weather radar frames. 30 minutes or 60 minutes for Gold+ and Platinum API Patrons. Values: Array(Frame Object) Status: ⚠️ Until Jan 01, 2026 |
key | Description | Example |
---|---|---|
infrared | Past 2 hours of the infrared satellite data (channel 13) from the available satellites. Values: Array(Frame Object) Status: ⚠️ Until Dec 31, 2025 |
key | Description | Example |
---|---|---|
time | Map frame generation data in UNIX timestamp format (UTC). The map frame typically contains the images (radar, satellite) from different times, so this is not the time of the data rather than frame generation time. Values: Int(8) | 1609401600 |
path | Base path for the images of that frame. For information on its usage, refer to the next How to use host and path information section of this page Values: String(255) | /v2/satellite/0680143a9470 |
host
and path
informationYou should use the host
and path
data from the API as a part of the URL. All available URLs and their parameters are described below.
Each url starts with {host}
, where:
{host}
is a host
from the Root Object of this API.URL | Description |
---|---|
{path}/{size}/{z}/{x}/{y}/{color}/{options}.png | Radar data: displays one tile with the composite radar reflectivity data, with specified size, color scheme, and additional options. Status: Available (max zoom 9 from Aug 1) |
{path}/{size}/{z}/{lat}/{lon}/{color}/{options}.png | Radar data: same as the link above, but with the center at specified coordinates (EPSG:4326) with desired zoom size. Great for widgets Status: Available (max zoom 9 from Aug 1) |
{path}/{big_size}/{color}/{options}.png | Composite image with radar reflectivity for the entire world. Generates slowly, up to 10 seconds per image loads. Cannot be smoothed. IMPORTANT: color scheme and the snow mask for satellite data should always be “0”. Status: Available |
Important limitations:
January 01, 2026: Satellite IR maps will be discontinued, nowcast radar data API will be discontinued, rate limiting of 100 requests per IP address per minute for all users, maximum zoom level limited to 7 for all users
{ts}
– one of the available Unix timestamps from the API.{x}, {y}, {z}
– x, y, and zoom level of the tile that you want to download. Read more about tiles Note: z will be limited to max level 10 from September 1, 2025 for free users (Patrons maintain full zoom access){latitude}, {longitude}
- latitude and longitude of specific coordinates accordingly. Decimal format. Must contain a dot in the number. Example: -32.7892, 108.67821.{size}
– image size, can be 256 or 512.{big_size}
– can be 2000, 4000, 8000, 16000, or 24000 (24000x12000 px or ~2km per pixel). For square images use 4096, 8192, and 16384 accordingly.{color}
- the number of the color scheme from the provided list.{options}
– list of options separated by the _
symbol. For example: ‘1_0’ means smoothed (1) image without snow color scheme (0). Now two options are available: {smooth}_{snow}
{smooth}
- blur (1) or not (0) radar data. Large composite images are always not smoothed due to performance issues.{snow}
- display (1) or not (0) snow in separate colors on the tiles.Additionally, one more product is available: the weather radar coverage mask. This mask shows where is weather radar coverage available (transparent areas) and where is not (black areas). We don’t update this mask often. The links are the same as for radar and satellite products, but without options and color scheme.
URL | Description |
---|---|
/v2/coverage/0/{size}/{z}/{x}/{y}/0/0_0.png | Coverage tile: where radar data is available (transparent areas) and where is not (black areas). Status: Available (max zoom 9 from Aug 1) |
/v2/coverage/0/{size}/{z}/{lat}/{lon}/0/0_0.png | Coverage data as above but for specified center coordinates (latitude, longitude). Status: Available (max zoom 9 from Aug 1) |
/v2/coverage/0/{big_size}/0/0_0.png | Composite coverage tile for the entire world at once. Generates slowly. Status: Available |