Plain English Meaning
It's the number weather radar uses to show how heavy the rain or storm is. Bigger number means heavier precipitation and a stronger storm.
Full Definition
A logarithmic unit used by weather radar to express how strongly precipitation reflects the radar's signal back to the antenna. Higher dBZ values indicate larger or more numerous precipitation particles within the radar beam, and therefore more intense precipitation. Values are colour-coded on radar displays, with low dBZ values shown as light returns (drizzle, light rain) and high dBZ values shown as heavy returns (heavy rain, hail, intense thunderstorm cores).
Context Anchor
Seen in ATC radar weather displays and weather avoidance discussions when controllers or of .