# Rain radar for Mallorca: where it is raining right now > Rain radar for Mallorca and the Balearics: the image from the AEMET Palma radar, new every 10 minutes, and how to read its colours, scale and time. Canonical: https://wettermallorca.com/en/rain-radar/ Updated on: 2026-10-08 This page shows the current radar image from AEMET, Spain's state weather service, for Mallorca and the other Balearic Islands. Below it you will find how to read the colours, the scale and the time, and what a radar cannot do. ## In short The rain radar for Mallorca on this page is the image from the Palma regional radar of AEMET, Spain's state weather service, and according to AEMET a new one appears every 10 minutes. It shows where the radar is picking up precipitation right now, within a circle of 240 km radius around the radar. It is not a forecast, what comes next is shown by the weather forecast. ## Key points - The radar image for Mallorca comes from AEMET, Palma regional radar, and according to AEMET it is renewed every 10 minutes. - The colours show reflectivity in dBZ, and the scale at the bottom of the image runs from 12 to 72 dBZ. - The higher the dBZ value, the stronger the echo and, as a rule, the precipitation, but the image shows no exact rainfall amount. - The time in the image is in UTC, in Mallorca add 2 hours in summer time and 1 hour in winter. - The radar shows the moment of measurement, not a forecast and not a warning. ## Mallorca rain radar: the current image The image comes from the Palma regional radar, which AEMET lists in its AEMET OpenData portal under the code pm. It appears here exactly as AEMET supplies it: with logo, colour scale and time stamp, not cropped and not recoloured. Besides Mallorca, the image also shows Menorca, Ibiza, Formentera and part of the Spanish mainland coast. Black means the radar is not picking up any precipitation there. Grey is the area beyond its range, and the yellow lines are the coastlines. If the image cannot be reached at the moment, a notice appears in its place rather than an older image. ## How to read the colours on the Mallorca rain radar A weather radar does not measure directly how much rain falls. It sends out beams and measures how strongly drops, snow or hail reflect them. This reflectivity is given in dBZ, and it is what colours the image. The scale at the bottom of the image runs from 12 to 72 dBZ in steps of 6. - Blue, light blue and turquoise (12 to 24 dBZ): weak echoes, usually light rain. - Green (30 to 42 dBZ): moderate echoes, noticeable rain. - Yellow and orange (48 to 60 dBZ): strong echoes, usually heavy precipitation. - Red and magenta (66 and 72 dBZ): very strong echoes. According to AEMET, there is no fixed conversion from reflectivity to rainfall amount, because each type of precipitation has its own distribution of drop sizes. For its images of accumulated rain, AEMET uses the Marshall and Palmer relationship. For you this means: the higher the dBZ value, the heavier the precipitation as a rule. You cannot read an exact amount per hour from the image. ## What the rain radar over Mallorca does not show The image shows the lowest scan of the radar. According to AEMET, the antenna turns at 0.5 degrees above the horizontal for this scan. These are the radar data closest to the ground and therefore the best for estimating precipitation at ground level. They are also the most affected by blocking from mountains. Distance plays a part too. The further an area is from the radar, the higher the beam runs above the ground, and low rain can stay hidden underneath it. A black patch therefore does not always mean it is dry there. Above all, the radar is not a forecast. It shows where there were echoes at the time of measurement. A single image cannot tell you where a rain area is heading or whether it will die out. ## How up to date the Mallorca rain radar is According to the AEMET OpenData metadata, a new image appears for each regional radar every 10 minutes. This page fetches it from AEMET and keeps it for 5 minutes at most. What counts is always the time stamp at the bottom of the image, not the moment you open the page. The time stamp is in UTC, coordinated universal time. The time is the six-digit number directly after the date: 131000 means 13:10 UTC. Mallorca is in the Central European time zone, so add 2 hours in summer time and 1 hour in winter. 13:10 UTC therefore becomes 15:10 summer time or 14:10 winter time in Mallorca. ## Using rain radar, forecast and warnings for Mallorca together - Rain radar: shows where it is raining right now. Useful for a quick look just before heading to the beach or out on a walk. - Forecast: The [7-day forecast](https://wettermallorca.com/en/7-day-weather/) and the [10-day forecast](https://wettermallorca.com/en/10-day-weather/) show what is expected over the next days. - Warnings: Whether AEMET has issued a warning for heavy rain, storms or wind in Mallorca is shown under [weather warnings](https://wettermallorca.com/en/weather-warnings/). If large yellow or red areas are moving towards the island on the radar, it is worth checking the warnings. Whether there actually is a warning is decided by AEMET, not by the colour on the image. What the sky looks like on the coast right now is shown by the [webcams in Mallorca](https://wettermallorca.com/en/webcams/). ## Source of the radar image for Mallorca The radar image is © AEMET, Agencia Estatal de Meteorología. According to its legal notice, AEMET allows its information to be reused, including for commercial purposes, as long as AEMET is named as the source, the technical content is not altered and any built-in logo is kept. This page follows those terms, and the image is left unchanged. Wetter Mallorca is an independent site. AEMET is not involved in this page and does not endorse it. How the data is processed here is explained under [Data and method](https://wettermallorca.com/en/about/). ## Frequently asked questions ### Where does the Mallorca rain radar on this page come from? From AEMET, Spain's state weather service. It is the image from the Palma regional radar, which AEMET provides through its AEMET OpenData portal. The page shows it unchanged, with logo and time stamp, and names AEMET as the source. ### How often is the rain radar for Mallorca updated? According to AEMET, a new image appears for the regional radar every 10 minutes. This page keeps it for 5 minutes at most and then asks AEMET again. The time stamp at the bottom of the image, given in UTC, tells you which image you are looking at. ### What do the colours on the Mallorca rain radar mean? They show how strongly precipitation reflects the radar beams, measured in dBZ from 12 to 72. Blue stands for weak echoes, green for moderate, yellow and orange for strong, red and magenta for very strong. According to AEMET, an exact rainfall amount cannot be read from them. ### Can the Mallorca rain radar predict whether it will rain tomorrow? No. The radar only shows where there was precipitation at the time of measurement. For the coming days, the weather forecast is the right tool, and for Mallorca it reaches around 9 to 10 days ahead. Whether AEMET has issued a warning is shown on the warnings page. ### Why is the rain radar over Mallorca black when it is raining? There are several possible reasons. The image is a few minutes old, very weak echoes below 12 dBZ do not appear on the scale, and according to AEMET mountains can block the beam. Far from the radar, low rain can also lie beneath the beam. ### Which time zone is the time on the Mallorca rain radar in? UTC. Mallorca uses Central European Time, so add 2 hours in summer time and 1 hour in winter. A time stamp of 131000 means 13:10 UTC, which is 15:10 summer time or 14:10 winter time in Mallorca. ### What area does the rain radar for Mallorca cover? According to AEMET, a regional radar shows a circle of 240 km radius around the radar site. The image from the Palma radar shows Menorca, Ibiza, Formentera and part of the Spanish mainland coast as well as Mallorca. Outside the circle the image is grey. ## Sources - [AEMET OpenData, Palma regional radar (pm): GIF image, every 10 minutes](https://opendata.aemet.es/), checked on 2026-10-08 - [AEMET, radar interpretation: 240 km radius, lowest scan at 0.5 degrees, dBZ, blocking, Marshall-Palmer](https://www.aemet.es/es/eltiempo/observacion/radar/ayuda), checked on 2026-10-08 - [AEMET, legal notice: reuse including commercial, with attribution and logo](https://www.aemet.es/es/nota_legal), checked on 2026-10-08