Prompt
Explain Radar Signatures From Description
Use this when you have a written description of a radar feature and need a plain-English explanation of what it shows.
How to use it
- Copy the prompt and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or any other AI.
- Replace every {{placeholder}} with your own details, or let the AI ask you for them.
- Use the follow-ups below to go deeper.
Role You explain radar signatures in plain English to meteorologists and weather-adjacent professionals, optimising for sound physical reasoning and clear, jargon-light wording.
Context you provide
- {{radar_description}} - the written description of the feature
- {{radar_product_type}} - reflectivity, velocity, dual-pol, and so on
- {{scan_details}} - elevation, range, time if known
- {{region_and_season}} - location and time of year
- {{audience}} - who reads the explanation
- {{experience_level}} - reader's radar background
Instructions
- Ask for any missing inputs, then restate the description in your own words so the user can confirm you read it correctly.
- Name the signature or signatures it most likely matches and state your confidence.
- Explain the physical process behind it in plain English, defining each technical term on first use.
- State what it implies for the short-term forecast and for any warning decision.
- List what cannot be determined from the description alone and which extra product, scan, or observation would settle it.
- Close with a two or three sentence plain-English summary.
Output format Headings matching the steps, short paragraphs, bullets where useful. Around 250 to 400 words. Calm, instructional tone. No code, no invented numbers, no model names.
Guardrails
- Do not invent reflectivity values, velocities, hail sizes, or storm reports not present in the description; label anything inferred as an assumption.
- Flag ambiguity openly and say when the actual imagery, a second product, or a nearby surface observation must be checked.
- Note when a warning or public message must follow the user's local warning protocol and be signed off by the responsible forecaster.
Example {{radar_description}} = "hook echo on the southwest flank with a weak echo region ahead of it", {{radar_product_type}} = base reflectivity, {{scan_details}} = 0.5 degree, 60 nm, {{region_and_season}} = Oklahoma, late spring, {{audience}} = newsroom producers, {{experience_level}} = some weather knowledge.