National Radar Loop – Live US Doppler Weather Map
Continuous 2-hour animated Doppler radar loop tracking storm cells, heavy rain, snowfall, and squall lines across the Continental United States in real-time HD.
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Understanding the US National Doppler Radar Loop
The national radar loop connects over 160 WSR-88D NEXRAD Doppler radar stations across the contiguous United States into a continuous, high-definition composite loop. By animating past radar reflectivity scans over a 2-hour window, you can determine:
- Storm Velocity & Vector: How fast rain bands and thunderstorm cells are moving toward your city or county.
- Cell Intensification: Whether radar echoes are transitioning from green (light rain) to yellow, orange, red (heavy downpours), or purple (severe hail/tornadic supercells).
- Cold & Warm Fronts: Long narrow squall lines advancing across states from west to east or south to north.
- Winter Precipitation Boundaries: The freezing rain and snowfall line during major winter storms.
How to Interpret Radar Reflectivity (dBZ)
The standard NEXRAD radar scale measures echo intensity in decibels of reflectivity (dBZ):
15 – 30 dBZ: Light rain, mist, or light snow showers
30 – 40 dBZ: Moderate rain, steady precipitation
40 – 50 dBZ: Heavy rain, ponding on roadways
50 – 60 dBZ: Severe thunderstorm, high wind gusts, possible hail
60+ dBZ: Extreme storm core, large damaging hail, potential tornado
National Radar Loop FAQ
A national radar loop is an animated composite of Doppler radar frames recorded over the past 2 hours from National Weather Service WSR-88D NEXRAD towers across the entire United States.
New Doppler radar scans are incorporated every 5 to 10 minutes as soon as individual radar towers complete their volume scans. The national NOAA mosaic updates every 2 minutes.
Yes! Use your mouse wheel or the [+] and [-] buttons on the map to zoom all the way down to county and neighborhood street level, or click our homepage search bar to search by city or 5-digit ZIP code.