Free course · live radar

Learn to read weather radar
in 90 minutes.

Go from colored blobs to actually reading radar in ten short lessons. Learn what kind of storm you're seeing, where it's going, whether it's rotating, and when radar can fool you, using real storms and Live radar.

Start school

A supercell near Chugwater, Wyoming, on the Cheyenne radar
A Wyoming supercell, looping KCYS · 4 Jul 2019 · you will be able to read this by Lesson 5

For the weather obsessed, the high schooler headed for a meteorology degree, or the forecaster who wants a cleaner way to explain all this to everybody else.

Two of these four are not weather

By Lesson 6 you will know which, and why.
Radar image, unlabelled
Radar image, unlabelled
Radar image, unlabelled
Radar image, unlabelled
New to weather? Start here00How a Storm Works OptionalThe weather basics the rest of Radar School builds on.

Understand updrafts, downdrafts, fronts, instability, wind shear and why thunderstorms organize. About ten minutes. Already know what an updraft and wind shear are? Skip straight to Lesson 1.

The ten lessons

Ten lessons, each one built on the last. Take them in order.

Section one · The picture

What the radar measures, and what the colors mean.

Completed
01Two PicturesKnow which of the two radar images answers which question.0/302Reflectivity: IntensitySay how hard it is raining and whether hail is likely.0/303Reflectivity: ShapeName the storm type in about two seconds, and know what it can do.0/3
Section two · The motion

Where the air is going, how it is moving, and where the storm goes next.

Completed
04MotionPredict where a storm is headed, not just where it has been.0/305Velocity: Green and RedFind rotation yourself instead of waiting to be told.0/306When Radar LiesStop chasing things that are not there.0/3
Section three · The call

Reading severe weather, and knowing the limits.

Completed
07The Storm LadderStack the evidence a forecaster stacks, and know what each piece is worth.0/308SpecialistsRead hurricanes and lake effect snow.0/309Your Radar AppExpand what the earlier lessons taught you into skills that work in any radar app.0/310GraduationPut it together, and earn your certificate.0/10
Reflectivity from the Omaha radar Velocity from the Omaha radar, the same moment

Meet Earl

Earl "Dryline" Hatcher is RadarWrangler's fictional trainer, weathered chaser, questionable role model, and your guide through Radar School.

His resume is fiction, but he helps teach real radar skills.

He turns up at the start and end of every lesson, to explain things plainly. And because apparently this needs saying somewhere: Earl is a character. No retired storm chaser was trapped inside this website.

Live radar in every lesson

A live radar scope stays with you through the whole course, with every U.S. weather radar station and the standard controls and layers in other radar apps. When a lesson teaches you a new skill, TRY IT LIVE opens the radar and Earl guides you through looking for it in today's weather.

Your progress stays on your device. Passing the final exam earns a Radar Reader Certificate signed by Earl.

One thing before you start

This course teaches a skill. It is not a weather service. Every storm on the Live radar screen is happening to somebody, and reading radar well should make you take warnings more seriously rather than less. When there is weather where you are, the National Weather Service and your local emergency officials are who you listen to.

Start school