In this MetPy Monday tutorial, John Leeman from NSF Unidata demonstrates how to access and plot NEXRAD Level III radar data using MetPy’s newer remote data access tools. The video walks through how to search the NEXRAD Level III archive, retrieve radar products directly from the remote archive, process the data, convert radar-native azimuth and range coordinates into latitude and longitude, and create a series of reflectivity maps with Matplotlib and Cartopy.

This episode uses the April 20, 2023 central Oklahoma severe weather case and KTLX radar data to generate multiple Level III super-resolution base reflectivity plots. Along the way, John shows how to use NexradLevel3Archive.get_range, work with product metadata, use MetPy’s azimuth_range_to_lat_lon helper, apply the NWS Storm Clear Reflectivity color table, add county boundaries, timestamp each plot, and save each radar frame as a PNG image.

The workflow is designed for case studies, presentations, papers, and animation preparation. Instead of manually downloading radar files first, the tutorial shows how to stay inside Python and use MetPy to go from remote archive access to finished radar images.