How to Read Weather Radar | Understanding Colors
Be more weather-aware by knowing when heavy rains can quickly flood roads.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Local weather satellites and radar are some of the most valuable tools we have for tracking the weather. So valuable that many people keep them on their phones in weather apps.
But if you're not a meteorologist… you may not know exactly what the different colors mean or what they actually look like!
light green
This color can be misleading. Most often, light green indicates drizzle, fog, light drizzle, or very light rain. Usually only a small effect is measured at an official data site.
However, sometimes light green can mean that it is not raining at all because the rain is falling over our heads but the rain is not reaching the ground. This is referred to as “virga”.
dark green
It's light to moderate rain starting to develop. Up to a tenth of an inch of rain is possible over the course of an hour.
For dark green, the windshield wipers will move about every three seconds. Small pools of water may form, and this rain is very beneficial to gardens and lawns over the course of several hours, as it slowly saturates the soil.
Note: Some applications will have a different key where these green colors can be reversed.
yellow
Yellow is moderate rain that could reach three-tenths of an inch per hour. This means you'll need an umbrella and your windshield wipers running constantly.
Larger puddles will begin to form and rainfall over several hours will cause some large puddles to form.
🌩️ If you love weather, watch Brad Panovich and the WCNC Charlotte Weather Team on the Emmy Award-winning Weather IQ YouTube channel. 🎥
orange
Orange is the color of heavy rain. Rainfall rates start to increase dramatically at this point on the spectrum. Typically, this color will produce an inch or more of rain per hour while the windshield wipers are running.
Water can overflow drains, quickly creating large pools of water. This rain can be enough to flood sidewalks, streets, and yards—especially if it continues for an extended period of time. Orange also reduces visibility to a mile or less.
For the latest weather alerts, download the WCNC Charlotte mobile app and enable push notifications.
red
Time to put on your rain boots! Red on the radar is associated with heavy rain. Windshield wipers can't keep up with the rain, making visibility difficult as rain falls at rates of more than two inches per hour.
Red to crimson colors on the radar flood streets, yards and sidewalks in minutes. Water overflows sewers causing water levels to rise rapidly.
Radar colors can be beautiful but deadly too, so be sure to stay up to date with the WCNC Charlotte weather team by downloading our free mobile app. Stay safe and follow precipitation live with us.
Contact Chris Mulcahy at Kamulkahi@wcnc.com And they followed him on Facebook, X, Instagram And Tik Tok.
WCNC Charlotte's Weather IQ YouTube channel offers detailed explanations from WCNC Charlotte meteorologists to help you learn and understand weather, climate and science. Watch past stories where you can level up your weather IQ in YouTube playlist below Subscribe to get updates when new videos are uploaded.
