Environmental Info

NOAA NEXRAD Inventory (ncdc.noaa.gov/nexradinv) is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's archive of NEXRAD Doppler radar data covering the entire United States. It provides historical weather radar imagery and data for any location and time period, documenting weather conditions with high temporal and spatial resolution.

For OSINT investigators, NEXRAD weather data serves as an objective, government-archived record of actual weather conditions at specific locations and times. When an investigation involves claims about weather conditions — visibility, precipitation, severe weather — at a specific location during a specific time, NEXRAD provides the authoritative historical record.

Alibi verification and incident timeline reconstruction are the primary investigative applications. If a subject claims they were unable to travel due to weather, or that an incident could not have occurred due to weather conditions, NEXRAD data objectively documents what the weather was at the relevant location and time. Conversely, weather data can confirm that conditions were consistent with claimed events.

Insurance fraud investigations frequently involve weather claims — hail damage, flood damage, wind damage — where the occurrence and severity of weather events needs to be established from official records rather than relying on claimant testimony.

Accident investigations sometimes turn on weather conditions — visibility, road surface conditions, precipitation — at the exact time and location of the incident. NEXRAD data provides the archived radar record that precedes ground truth weather station data in temporal and spatial coverage.

NEXRAD data is available from 1991 forward for most US locations, with radar sites covering the continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, and some territories.

Data is accessible through NOAA's Climate Data Online interface and through the NEXRAD Inventory for direct file access. Level II (raw) and Level III (processed products) data are available.

Document the NEXRAD site, data product type, exact date and time range retrieved, and geographic coverage for any weather data used in investigation reports.