# RainViewer Weather Maps API

A free public JSON index plus PNG map tiles of a global weather-radar composite built from 1200+ radars, covering the past 2 hours with nowcast frames, ready to drop on a Leaflet or MapLibre map.

- Category: Weather and climate · by RainViewer (MeteoLab Inc.)
- Website: https://www.rainviewer.com/api.html
- Live data: yes
- Checked on the official pages: 2026-10-23

## API

- Official API: yes, docs https://www.rainviewer.com/api/weather-maps-api.html
- Key needed: no
- Price: Free; limits: Personal, educational and small-scale community use only; no hard rate limits posted but cache aggressively (abuse may get your IP blocked); maximum tile zoom level 7; no SLA
- Base URL: https://api.rainviewer.com/public/
- Formats: json, png

Example request:

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

## Data and license

- License: RainViewer API terms of use (https://www.rainviewer.com/api.html); covers Free Weather Maps API (radar tiles and JSON index); commercial or high-volume use only under bespoke terms arranged with RainViewer
- Commercial use with conditions
- Credit required
- Embedding with conditions
- Quote (api_official): "Free public weather radar API for personal, educational, and small-scale community use." (https://www.rainviewer.com/api.html)
- Quote (api_key): "No registration or API key is required for the free tier. You can fetch the JSON endpoints and tile URLs directly from your application." (https://www.rainviewer.com/api.html)
- Quote (api_price): "There's no fee or paid tier currently, but the free service comes without SLA guarantees and is not intended for high-volume commercial applications." (https://www.rainviewer.com/api.html)
- Quote (license): "This API is available for personal and educational use only. Terms of Use The API is free for personal or educational use." (https://www.rainviewer.com/api.html)
- Quote (commercial): "The free tier targets personal, educational, and small community projects. For high-volume traffic, commercial integration, or any use case where you depend on guaranteed availability, get in touch — bespoke commercial terms are arranged case-by-case." (https://www.rainviewer.com/api.html)
- Quote (attribution): "You must display credit such as "Weather data by RainViewer" with a link back to rainviewer.com somewhere visible in your app or website." (https://www.rainviewer.com/api.html)
- Quote (embed): "You can build map overlays, automated weather notifications, embedded radar widgets, and similar applications using only this endpoint." (https://www.rainviewer.com/api.html)
- Quote (limits): "There are no hard rate limits posted, but please cache aggressively and avoid hammering endpoints — abuse may result in your IP being blocked." (https://www.rainviewer.com/api.html)
- Quote (limits_zoom): "Maximum zoom level is 7." (https://www.rainviewer.com/api/weather-maps-api.html)
- Quote (availability): "We do not guarantee the availability of radar data. We do not conclude contracts with owners of this data." (https://www.rainviewer.com/api.html)
- Quote (formats): "{path}/{size}/{z}/{x}/{y}/{color}/{options}.png Radar data: displays one tile with the composite radar reflectivity data, with specified size, color scheme, and additional options." (https://www.rainviewer.com/api/weather-maps-api.html)

## Rules for an agent

- Fetch weather-maps.json, then build tiles as {host}{path}/{size}/{z}/{x}/{y}/{color}/{options}.png from radar.past[] and radar.nowcast[]; zoom stops at 7, paths change every few minutes, and the satellite infrared array was empty in our test.
- Personal, educational or small community use only on the free tier; commercial or high-volume use needs terms agreed with RainViewer.
- Show 'Weather data by RainViewer' with a link to rainviewer.com wherever the radar appears.
- Cache the JSON and tiles, do not request beyond zoom 7, and build in retries; there is no SLA.

## Agent access

- llms.txt: https://www.rainviewer.com/llms.txt

## Build ideas on AgentGid

- [Rain in the next hour: an alert for your city](https://agentgid.com/resources/ideas/rain-alert-for-your-city/agent.md)

Human page: https://agentgid.com/resources/rainviewer-api/
Source: AgentGid (agentgid.com). Facts are quoted from the site's own pages; check the license page before you ship.