Weather Maps API

URL

https://api.rainviewer.com/public/weather-maps.json

Purpose and Description

Contains the past 2 hours of weather radar data with 10-minute intervals. Suitable to display in applications, on websites, or in any other mapping software.

Important: March 2026 Changes

Path format changed. The identifier in the path field changed from a Unix timestamp to a hash (72250d5768d7 instead of 1609401600). The path structure /v2/radar/{id} remains the same. You must use the path value from the API response as-is. Constructing tile URLs by inserting timestamps into paths will no longer work.

/v2/radar/latest/ discontinued. The latest endpoint is no longer available and returns HTTP 400. To get the most recent radar frame, use the last element of the radar.past array from the API response.

Legacy API files discontinued. The following endpoints are no longer available:

• maps.json
• maps2.json
• maps3.json

Use https://api.rainviewer.com/public/weather-maps.json as the only supported endpoint.

How to migrate. If your code constructs tile URLs by inserting Unix timestamps into paths (e.g., /v2/radar/{timestamp}/...), update it to use the path value directly from the API response instead. The time field is still available for display and sorting purposes.

API File Example

Here is an example of the weather maps API file. The data inside the example is out of date and cannot be used in real queries. To get actual data, please open the API file directly.

{
  "version": "2.0",
  "generated": 1609402525,
  "host": "https://tilecache.rainviewer.com",
  "radar": {
    "past": [
      {
        "time": 1609401600,
        "path": "/v2/radar/72250d5768d7"
      },
      {
        "time": 1609402200,
        "path": "/v2/radar/a1b2c3d4e5f6"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Root Object

Radar Object

Frame Object

How to use host and path information

You should use the host and path data from the API as a part of the URL. Always use the path value from the API response directly — do not construct paths manually using timestamps. All available URLs and their parameters are described below.

Each url starts with {host}, where:

• {host} is a host from the Root Object of this API.

Parameters:

• {x}, {y}, {z} – x, y, and zoom level of the tile that you want to download. Maximum zoom level is 7. Read more about tiles
• {lat}, {lon} - latitude and longitude of specific coordinates accordingly. Decimal format. Must contain a dot in the number. Example: -32.7892, 108.67821.
• {size} – image size, can be 256 or 512.
• {color} - the color scheme ID. See Color Schemes.
• {options} – list of options separated by the _ symbol. For example: ‘1_0’ means smoothed (1) image without snow color scheme (0). Two options are available: {smooth}_{snow}
• {smooth} - blur (1) or not (0) radar data.
• {snow} - display (1) or not (0) snow in separate colors on the tiles.

Weather Radar Coverage

Additionally, one more product is available: the weather radar coverage mask. This mask shows where weather radar coverage is available (transparent areas) and where it is not (black areas). We don’t update this mask often. The links are the same as for radar products, but without options and color scheme.

Examples

Basic HTML + JS (Leaflet) example: github.com/rainviewer/rainviewer-api-example

Radar Tiles

Coverage Tiles

For coverage requests, set color scheme and options to “0”. Coverage may be hard to see against white backgrounds due to transparency.