Definition
A coded weather report, issued hourly by National Weather Service radar stations, that describes the type, intensity, location, movement, and tops of areas of precipitation detected by weather radar. Often referred to by the code SD or ROB.
Plain English
An hourly report from weather radar stations that tells you where rain, snow, or thunderstorms are showing up on radar, how strong they are, which way they are moving, and how high the tops reach.
Context Anchor
Seen in aviation weather briefings and weather products when radar-detected rain or storms are being reported along or near a route of flight.
Derivation
Radar comes from RAdio Detection And Ranging — using radio waves to detect objects and measure their distance. A radar weather report is simply the written summary of what the weather radar is seeing.
Why Pilots Care
Helps pilots identify and avoid areas of hazardous weather such as thunderstorms, hail, or heavy turbulence.
Intuition Check
Do not read “report” as a forecast. A Radar Weather Report describes weather detected by radar at the time of the report; it does not promise what the weather will do later.
Example Sentence 1
The radar weather report showed a line of thunderstorms moving east at 25 knots, so the pilot delayed departure by an hour.
Example Sentence 2
The briefer relayed an updated radar weather report showing a line of moderate to heavy echoes moving across the destination area.