Radar US FAQ

How do I use Radar US?

Navigation

Pan: Touch and then drag your finger across the map.

Zoom In: Pinch out or double tap on map.

Zoom Out: Pinch in or tap two fingers on map.

Animation Toolbar

Buttons from left to right:

1 – Save image or send image to Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail.

2 – Rewind to beginning of loop.

3 – Single step backward one time step.

4 – Start/stop animation.

5 – Single step forward one time step.

6 – Fast forward to end of loop.

7 – Display in full screen mode.

Main Toolbar

Buttons from left to right:

1 – Tap to display and move to your current location.

2 – Displays the current weather layer or product. Tap to change to display a different layer.

3 – Search for a location, or display the bookmarks dialog (iPhone only).

4 – Change preferences, including map background, loop speed, radar smoothing, radar palette, and product dependent overlays such as warning boxes, storm tracks, temperatures, and hurricane tracks.

5 – Display the legend for the current weather product.

Forecasts

Press your finger on the map at the location where you would like to get a forecast. The forecast will pop up after a second or two.

Severe weather warnings

Warnings are shown as colored polygons on the map. You can tap on a warning area to get more information about a given warning. Tornado warnings are displayed in red, severe thunderstorm warnings in yellow, and flash flood warnings in green.

How do I display a forecast?

Just press your finger on the map at the location where you would like to get a forecast. The forecast will pop up after a second or two.

What regions are included?

We include radar data from the continental United States (lower 48 states only). Satellite images cover the Western hemisphere from about 10N - 65N latitude and 170W - 10W longitude.

What is your source for the data?

The ultimate source for all of our data is the US National Weather Service.

How often do you update the data?

Radar data is updated roughly every 5 minutes. However, an individual site may only update every 10 minutes if there isn't any precipitation in the vicinity. Satellite data is updated every 30 minutes.

How do I zoom in and out?

Here are instructions on how to zoom in and out.

Why does the display appear pixellated?

You may have accidentally disabled smoothing. Click on the wrench icon and verify that "Smooth radar" is set to "On".

At this time, smoothing only works for radar images. If you zoom in a lot on a cloud/satellite image, the image will appear pixellated. This is due to the limited resolution of GOES infrared satellite images -- about 4km, or 2.5 miles.

It's snowing but nothing is displayed

If you have "Reduce clutter" set to "On" (click on the gear icon to display), then light snow will not be shown. Try changing "Reduce clutter" to "Off" to display light snow.

It's raining but nothing is displayed

If you have "Reduce clutter" set to "On" (click on the gear icon to display), then light rain will not be shown. Try changing "Reduce clutter" to "Off" to display light rain.

It isn't raining but the radar shows rain

You most likely are seeing radar "clutter" -- false radar echoes that have a number of causes, including flying birds or insects or atmospheric conditions that cause the radar beam to bounce off the ground or nearby buildings. More detail is available from the National Weather Service.

You can reduce the amount of clutter by clicking on the wrench icon and setting "Reduce clutter" to "On". However, this will cause light echoes (indicating light rain) to be hidden.

Something is wrong with the app

Try exiting and restarting the app -- press the Home button to return to the Home screen, then double-tap the Home button to display recent apps. If you are running iOS 7, drag the image of the app to the top of the screen. If you are running iOS 6 or earlier, tap and hold the RadarUS app until the red minus appears, then tap the red minus to quit the app. Finally, press the Home button, then restart the app.

If that doesn't work, the Apple support page has a few other options for you.

If all else fails, you can contact us at support AT shuksansoft.com

What's the difference between Dual Radar and earlier products?

Current weather radar apps either provide access to images that combine data from the 140+ radar stations that are available in the US, or provide access to one radar station at a time. Dual Radar is the first app that allows you to have access to both in the same app. This allows you to get the big weather picture by viewing combined radar images, while also giving you access to specific radar products (such as base velocity and dual polarization) that cannot be combined into a single image.

How do I add animated radar to my lock screen (version 1.1.0 and later)?

Make sure your phone is unlocked and slide down the Notification Center by swiping down from the top of the screen. You should see an edit button at the bottom of the screen:

Tap the edit button and you will see a list of widgets under Do not include:

Tap on the green plus sign next to Dual Radar and the display should change to this:

Tap on the Done button and you will see an animated display of rain in your current location:

You can then activate the full app by tapping on the map.

How do I switch between combined and station mode?

The first time you start up Dual Radar, it will be in combined mode. If you want to change to station mode, tap on the product button on the main toolbar. A table view will appear and a button at the top will let you switch between station and combined view. Once you switch modes, note that the available weather product overlays change.

Once you switch to station mode, you will need to select a station in order to view the radar data from that station. Tap on one of the small black dots on the map to select a given station. If you don't see any black dots, you may be zoomed in too far -- try zooming out to find the station closest to the region you are interested in.

How do I select a station when in station mode?

Tap on one of the small black dots on the map to select a given station. If you don't see any stations, you may be zoomed in too far -- try zooming out to find the station closest to the region you are interested in.

What products are available in station mode?

Quite a few! Here's a list (all are Level 3 products). The National Weather Service has much more info on standard radar products, and here is a a set of detailed posts describing dual polarization products (differential reflectivity, correlation coefficient, specific differential phase, and hydrometeor classification)