Drawing & Styling Map Regions

Polygon and freehand drawing, region styling, and tips for effective map regions.

Drawing Modes

The map editor offers two ways to draw regions:

Polygon Mode

Click on the map to place points. Each click adds a vertex. Close the shape by clicking on the first point. Best for clean boundaries that follow geographic features like highways, rivers, or county lines.

Freehand Mode

Click and drag to draw freely on the map. Release to close the shape. Best for organic shapes and quick sketching when precision isn't critical.

Switch between modes using the toolbar above the map.

The Region Inspector

When you select a region on the map, the Region Inspector panel opens automatically. Here you can:

Name — Give the region a descriptive label (e.g., "North of I-78", "Coastal Areas")

Label Visibility — Toggle whether the region name displays on the map. Hiding the label only hides the text — the fill and stroke remain visible.

Fill Color — Pick from the color palette or use your own color

Style Options — Expand to fine-tune:

Fill opacity — (0 to 1) — how transparent the region fill is

Stroke width — (0 to 6px) — thickness of the region border

Stroke color — color of the region border (hex)

Tips for Effective Regions

Use descriptive names — "North Jersey" is more useful to your audience than "Region 1"

Don't over-draw — 3-6 regions is usually the sweet spot. Too many regions make the map hard to read.

Use contrast — Pick colors that are visually distinct from each other so regions are easy to tell apart

Overlap intentionally — Regions can overlap if your forecast calls for it (e.g., a wider "light snow" region with a smaller "heavy snow" region inside)

Import for precision — If you need exact boundaries, [import from Google My Maps or a GeoJSON file](/help/importing-regions) instead of drawing freehand