Canadian Radar Outages Now Available in IW Pro

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We have added a new feature in IW Pro that provides more transparency around radar coverage across Canada.

You can now see when and where Canadian weather radars are experiencing outages directly on the map.

When a radar is offline or undergoing maintenance, a red radar icon will appear at that location (see image below). Simply tap or click the icon to view more details about the outage.

Screenshot 1: Red radar icon shown on the map

After selecting the icon, you will see additional information about the outage, including details provided by Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Screenshot 2: Radar outage details after tapping the icon

Previously, it was not always clear whether an issue was with IW Pro or the radar station itself. This update helps remove that uncertainty by clearly showing when a radar outage is the cause.

Outage information is based on data from Environment and Climate Change Canada:

https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/weather-general-tools-resources/radar-overview/outages-maintenance.html

We are continuing to improve how radar data is displayed in the app, and this is another step toward making the experience clearer and more reliable.

🛠️ Requested Features (Updated May 2025)

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We appreciate all the suggestions that have come in from our awesome community! Some of these features are already in development or under consideration, while others may take time depending on feasibility and system performance. If you have more ideas, feel free to reach out as your feedback helps shape IW Pro.

✅ Already Requested (From Aug 10, 2023)

  • Lighter coloured map option
    A more contrast-friendly map theme for better visibility during daylight or in low-contrast setups.

  • Drop-down boxes for radar products and elevation/tilts
    In addition to arrows, having a drop-down menu can help quickly select specific options.

  • Switch settings to on/off toggles instead of dropdowns
    Aimed at improving mobile usability, especially on touch-based browsers with limited UI support.

  • Include timestamp info in alerts
    More detail about when each alert was issued or last updated.

  • Auto-load new frames during radar animation
    Improve Live Mode so new frames are seamlessly added during playback.

  • Different error messages when a radar station is down
    Distinguish between “station offline” and “network/load issue” to help users troubleshoot faster.

📝 New Suggestions (2024–2025)

  • Lightning and alerts in Historical Mode
    Currently, historical radar does not display lightning or alerts. This is a frequently requested feature.

  • Improve Great Lakes visibility
    Some users have noted the lakes are hard to see (black on almost black). A visual update is under consideration to make them stand out more clearly.

  • Improve accuracy of storm track arrows
    Arrows occasionally point in the wrong direction. Watching a few frames of reflectivity can help, but backend refinements are planned.

  • Precipitation type (snow/rain/etc.) in station radar
    Currently shown only in Mosaic Radar; users would like to see this per station if feasible.

  • Map and radar layer customization
    This is on the roadmap! Many users have asked to customize map backgrounds, radar colours, and toggle overlay layers.

⚠️ Features Temporarily Unavailable

  • U.S. Alert Descriptions
    These were lost during a rollback to a previous version and are currently not displaying. We plan to restore them in a future update.

  • Environment Canada Thunderstorm Forecasts
    This feature is temporarily unavailable but will return in a future version.