World rain and precipitation map
The rain layer shows the precipitation rate, in millimetres per hour, forecast by the NOAA GFS model on a 0.25 degree grid. Rain, snow and other falling water are all counted. One millimetre of rain over one hour is a light shower; ten or more is a heavy downpour.
Colours start with pale blue for drizzle and move to deeper and warmer tones as the rate rises. Areas without colour have little or no precipitation at that moment. Hover or tap on the globe to read the value at a point.
Look for the long rain bands of mid-latitude storms, the narrow ribbon of showers along the equator, and the seasonal monsoon systems over South and Southeast Asia. Dry zones, such as the Sahara and the Atacama, stay empty for days.
The map is a forecast, not a radar. It shows what the model expects, and small, intense storms are smoothed out at this resolution. Each run covers 48 hours in 3-hour steps and is refreshed four times a day.