Weather radars are only computers and occasionally they, like all computers, go a bit berserk. Sometimes this is caused by a software bug, sometimes by operator error, sometimes on purpose to troubleshoot a software or hardware problem. This Radar Anomaly Archive shows examples of this that have been collected by WeatherMatrix Members and others on the Internet. If you have any images you would like us to put in the archive, or you have links to other archives, please contact us.

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NEW! See this site for comprehensive samples and explanations.

Despite what some people say, these works of art are no government conspiracy to radiate persons, read your mind, or otherwise molest the public. Take it from me, a meteorologist who has operated and taken classes on weather radar. Here are some common myths regarding radar anomalies, especially test patterns.

1. It's The Return, Dummy: What is showing on the radar screen is the return signal. To say that these represent any radiation levels above normal radar output is to compare apples to oranges.

2. Software Driven: The radar display is SOFTWARE driven. Most of the radar anomalies are false software reports of things that aren't there; therefore you can't claim they are representative of any physical object or "radiation output."

3. NEXRAD Safety: The NEXRAD radars here in the U.S., which most of this collection is from, have been designed to output power that is not dangerous to humans (unless they are standing right next to the dish). In addition, the lowest possible radar tilt angle is 0.5 degrees up from the horizon. (More On This Topic...)

You can also check the radar's current WSR-88D Outage Notification message to see if the radar has recently experienced any issues.

Without further ado, onto the archive. This archive has just been started... expect to see Gigabytes of data by the time it is through. Some sections that are not linked, do not have any images uploaded yet.