Set radar type

Use this action to set the type of radar imagery that an Environment Canada radar camera retrieves. By default, the camera shows rain radar from 1 April to 30 November and snow radar from 1 December to 31 March. With this action, you can switch the layer yourself, for example to show snow radar during an early cold snap.

Using this action from the user interface

If you prefer building automations and scripts visually, Home Assistant walks you through this action step by step. You pick what to target, tweak a few options, and save. No YAML knowledge required.

To set the radar type from an automation or a script:

1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
2. Open an existing automation or script, or select Create automation > Create new automation.
3. If you’re setting up a new automation, add a trigger in the When section. Scripts don’t need a trigger. They run when something else calls them.
4. In the Then do section, select Add action.
5. Select what you want to control. Under By target (see Targets), select the radar camera you want to change.
6. From the actions shown for that target, select Set radar type.
7. Select the Radar type you want the camera to show.
8. Select Save.

Options in the UI

Using this action in YAML

If you work directly in YAML, or you want to know exactly what Home Assistant does under the hood, this section has the technical reference. It lists the field names you use in YAML, their types, and which ones are required.

In YAML, refer to this action as environment_canada.set_radar_type. A basic example looks like this:

action: environment_canada.set_radar_type
target:
  entity_id: camera.home_radar
data:
  radar_type: Rain

This sets camera.home_radar to show the rain radar layer.

Options in YAML

Targets of the action

This action requires a target. The target is the object of the action. You can point the action at a single entityAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more], a device, an area, a floor, or a label, and Home Assistant will run the action on every matching camera entity behind that target.

• Entity: one specific camera entity, such as camera.living_room.
• Device: every camera entity that belongs to a device.
• Area: every camera entity in a room or area.
• Floor: every camera entity on a floor.
• Label: every camera entity that shares a label.

You can also select different target types in one action. For example, you can add a specific entity and an area as targets in the same action to run the action on both of them at once.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Open Developer tools > Actions, search for this action, fill in the fields, and select Perform action. You see what happens on your actual entitiesAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more] without writing a line of YAML.

More examples

Real scenarios where this action shows up in automations and scripts. Copy any example and adapt it to your setup.

Automation: switch to snow radar when it gets cold

When the outdoor temperature drops below freezing, switch the radar camera to show the snow layer.

• Trigger: Temperature drops below 0 °C
• Action: Set radar type
• Target: Home radar
• Radar type: Snow

alias: "Snow radar when it freezes"
triggers:
  - trigger: numeric_state
    entity_id: sensor.home_temperature
    below: 0
actions:
  - action: environment_canada.set_radar_type
    target:
      entity_id: camera.home_radar
    data:
      radar_type: Snow

Still stuck?

The Home Assistant community is quick to help: join Discord for real-time chat, post on the community forum with the action you’re calling and what you expected to happen, or share on our subreddit /r/homeassistant.

Related actions

These actions work well alongside this one:

• Get alerts: Retrieves the active weather alerts for an Environment Canada location.

• Get forecasts: Retrieves the raw daily and hourly forecast data from Environment Canada.