US Radar - previous 6 hours
Images provided by Unisys Weather
These composite radar images identify echo tops, storm movement, TVS (Tornadic Vortex Signatures), MESO (Mesocyclone) signatures and watch boxes for the prior six hours. Severe weather watch areas are numbered and enclosed in white boxes. The watch number, type of watch (T=Tornado, S=Severe Thunderstorm) and the watch expiration time (UTC) appear below the intensity scale. Types of precipitation are color coded and detailed in the table below:
| RAIN | SLEET | SNOW | ||||||
| dBZ | Rate (in/hr) | Intensity | dBZ | Rate (in/hr) | Intensity | dBZ | Rate (in/hr) | Intensity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | < 0.01 | Hardly Noticeable | ||||||
| 10 | < 0.01 | Light Mist | ||||||
| 15 | 0.01 | Mist | ||||||
| 20 | 0.02 | Very Light | 20 | 0.02 | Very Light | 20 | 0.02 | Very Light |
| 25 | 0.05 | Light | 25 | 0.05 | Light | 25 | 0.05 | Light |
| 30 | 0.1 | Light to Moderate | 30 | 0.1 | Light to Moderate | 30 | 0.1 | Light to Moderate |
| 35 | 0.22 | Moderate | 35 | 0.22 | Moderate | 35 | 0.22 | Moderate |
| 40 | 0.45 | Moderate | 40 | 0.45 | Moderate | 40 | 0.45 | Moderate |
| 45 | 0.92 | Moderate to Heavy | 45 | 0.92 | Moderate to Heavy | 45 | 0.92 | Moderate to Heavy |
| 50 | 1.9 | Heavy | 50 | 1.9 | Heavy | 50 | 1.9 | Heavy |
| 55 | 4 | Very Heavy / Small Hail | 55 | 4 | Very Heavy | 55 | 4 | Very Heavy |
| 60 | 8 | Extreme / Moderate Hail | 60 | 8 | Extreme | 60 | 8 | Extreme |
| 65 | 16.6 | Extreme / Large Hail | 65 | 16.6 | Extreme | 65 | 16.6 | Extreme |
NOTE: Using METAR data from a large number of ground stations and aircraft, the winter mosaic is modified to identify freezing and frozen precipitation. The unique color codes in the dBZ scale from 80dBZ to 180dBZ represent freezing rain, or SLEET, and the unique color codes from 180dBZ to 280dBZ represent frozen rain, or SNOW. The actual dBZ values are shown in the table above.