The accidental invention of the weather radar during World War II was one of the most important advances we’ve made in keeping people safe from severe storms. Today, the United States is covered by more than 150 Doppler radar sites, but there are some pretty dangerous gaps in that coverage. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) recently introduced a bill ordering the construction of new radar sites to cover some of the country’s most vulnerable cities, but the bill might be worded just cleverly enough that it applies to exactly one city, which is coincidentally the largest in Burr’s home state.

We already know that your weather app sucks, but the websites you use probably aren’t much better. One of the most common questions people ask about the weather is “what website/app should I use?” Here’s a list of great resources that will give you all the weather information you want, and more.

The first violent tornado of the year touched down in north-central Illinois last Thursday, packing winds of up to 200 MPH as it razed the small town of Fairdale. The storm killed two people and injured several more. Here's an in-depth look at the tornadic storm from beginning to end.

Meteorologists have to deal with sharp tongues when forecasts don't pan out, but it's not every day they have to deal with sharp teeth. The National Weather Service released a statement this afternoon announcing that repairs to a Texas weather radar were put on hold "due to complications involving a rattlesnake."

If you happened to check the weather radar out of Aberdeen, South Dakota before sunrise last Wednesday (who didn't?), you saw an incredible and unusual sight: a small, spiraling cyclone of snow racing southeast. The swirl almost looks like a small tropical cyclone, with an eye and everything. Here's a look at how the impressive feature formed.

If you're a weather geek and have a few bucks to burn, there are quite a few excellent weather radar programs available for download. Trying to judge which one is the best can be tough, and each has its strengths and weaknesses. Let's take a look at the best (and the worst) weather radar programs.

One of the nicest things about summer is a nearby afternoon thunderstorm. The storm bubbles up on the horizon and a few minutes later you get a nice gust of cool, refreshing wind. This gust of wind is called an "outflow boundary," and it's one of the most interesting weather phenomena there is.

A tornado in northeastern Tennessee near La Follette produced a strong debris signature on Doppler radar imagery around 600PM EDT on Sunday. The tornadic storm occurred as part of an unusually strong severe weather outbreak taking place across the easternmost third of the country this afternoon.

When Hurricane Arthur made landfall on the North Carolina coast last weekend, it was the strongest hurricane to strike the United States since Hurricane Ike hit Texas in 2008. The storm was downright impressive visually, and these gifs document the latent beauty of nature's power.

One of the best technological advances in the past year didn't involve any new technology at all — the advance is the result of an ingenious programming tweak developed by the National Weather Service. It will ultimately save thousands of lives over the coming years.

You may have heard that Albuquerque is experiencing a bit of a locust problem right now, with millions of the pests descending on the city as a result of a long drought. But, until now, you haven't seen them on 3-D radar, extending like a thick blanket over a mile into the atmosphere.

When the forecast calls for "scattered thunderstorms," this is what they're talking about.

A well-defined low pressure system over Texas and Oklahoma this afternoon is producing an awesome sight on satellite imagery, including a classic comma shape and even an eye-like feature in the middle of it.

At 430PM EDT, a rare supercell in central Vermont has a hook echo on it and strong rotation on radar, prompting a tornado warning for Windsor and Rutland Counties. The storm has a history of producing wind damage and hail up to the size of golf balls.

A thunderstorm near Spartanburg, South Carolina just dropped 2.50" hail. That's the size of a tennis ball. Another severe storm, pictured above, is approaching Myrtle Beach at 5:05PM. If you live in the Carolinas, especially along/east of I-85 in South Carolina and along I-95 in North Carolina, keeps a close watch on the storms this evening.

At 2:40PM MDT, an intense, tornado-warned supercell was approaching Denver International Airport with tennis ball size hail. It's absolutely phenomenal looking on radar, with a textbook shape and wind pattern. A confirmed tornado was spotted near Watkins, CO at 2:51PM MDT.

The satellite and radar images coming out of Tuesday's severe weather is approaching "map porn" caliber for weather geeks. The top of this post features a high-resolution satellite image of the central United States, showing severe thunderstorms over Iowa and Illinois, as well as a stubborn and intense supercell near Denver, Colorado.

A line of thunderstorms over one thousand miles long spreads eastward across the center of the country on Monday evening along the leading edge of a cold front. If you're one to look for shapes in the clouds, see if you can spot the dragon.

The only thing more dangerous than a tornado is a tornado that occurs at night. People have some weird need to want to see the tornado before they seek shelter or take any other action. Seeing a tornado at night is usually almost impossible, but last night it wasn't. Meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Jackson, Mississippi were able to confirm the presence of a damaging tornado last night based completely on radar data, proving the effectiveness of its new dual-polarization technology.

Shelby Latino, a weekend meteorologist for WCBI in Columbus, Mississippi, made this incredible radar-themed cake. The cake shows a tornado-producing supercell thunderstorm on weather radar complete with a 3D volumetric display of the storm, which is pretty much the best dessert you could ever make for a weather geek.