Live/Radar/Every radar/KAMX
Single radar / Florida
Miami radar KAMX
The weather service radar at Miami, Florida, alone: each picture it makes from its own scans, at four tilts from its lowest up, every few minutes. Reflectivity, velocity, storm relative velocity, correlation coefficient and differential reflectivity, the storms it tracks and where they are headed, and how high its beam passes. How to read them.
- Latest scan
- Scanning
- Precipitation mode, pattern 212
- Tilts
- 0.5°, 1.3°, 2.4°, 3.1°
- Stands at
- 25.611°N 80.413°W, 14 ft above sea level
- Reaches
- 286 mi with reflectivity, 186 mi with velocity, 143 mi with storm relative velocity
Storms it tracks
The radar follows each storm cell from scan to scan, measures the way it is moving, and puts it ahead 15 to 60 minutes. Each is drawn on the map above, its track to the hour ahead marked each quarter hour.
| Storm | Where | Moving | In 30 minutes | In 60 minutes | Last forecast off by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Y3 | 185 mi west of the radar185 mi from the radar, bearing 263° | Toward the northeast at 2 mph | - | - | 3.7 mi |
| V5 | 184 mi west of the radar184 mi from the radar, bearing 268° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| K2 | 73 mi south of the radar73 mi from the radar, bearing 185° | Toward the northwest at 14 mph | 68 mi south of the radar | 64 mi south southwest of the radar | 0.3 mi |
| E4 | 40 mi south southeast of the radar40 mi from the radar, bearing 151° | Toward the northwest at 22 mph | 8 mi south southeast of North Key Largo, FL | 3 mi west of North Key Largo, FL | 0.7 mi |
| Q8 | 104 mi south southeast of the radar104 mi from the radar, bearing 154° | Toward the northwest at 22 mph | 93 mi south southeast of the radar | 84 mi south southeast of the radar | 0.5 mi |
| K8 | 100 mi south of the radar100 mi from the radar, bearing 188° | Toward the west northwest at 13 mph | 100 mi south of the radar | 100 mi south southwest of the radar | 0.8 mi |
| H9 | 12 mi southwest of Key West, FL125 mi from the radar, bearing 230° | Toward the west at 17 mph | 131 mi southwest of the radar | - | 1.3 mi |
| D5 | 41 mi southeast of the radar41 mi from the radar, bearing 139° | Toward the north northwest at 15 mph | 35 mi southeast of the radar | 14 mi east northeast of North Key Largo, FL | 0.2 mi |
| B7 | 113 mi south southeast of the radar113 mi from the radar, bearing 160° | Toward the west northwest at 36 mph | 100 mi south southeast of the radar | - | 1.6 mi |
| N7 | 85 mi south southeast of the radar85 mi from the radar, bearing 148° | Toward the northwest at 24 mph | 74 mi south southeast of the radar | 61 mi south southeast of the radar | 0.3 mi |
| G2 | 86 mi south southeast of the radar86 mi from the radar, bearing 161° | Toward the north northwest at 23 mph | 76 mi south southeast of the radar | - | 1 mi |
| Z7 | 101 mi south southeast of the radar101 mi from the radar, bearing 165° | Toward the north northwest at 36 mph | 84 mi south of the radar | - | 1 mi |
| L1 | 3 mi east of Miami, FL20 mi from the radar, bearing 56° | Toward the northwest at 18 mph | At Westview, FL | - | 1.2 mi |
| I7 | 76 mi south southeast of the radar76 mi from the radar, bearing 157° | Toward the north northwest at 18 mph | 67 mi south southeast of the radar | 58 mi south southeast of the radar | 0.5 mi |
| L6 | 84 mi south of the radar84 mi from the radar, bearing 189° | Toward the west northwest at 23 mph | 82 mi south southwest of the radar | - | 1 mi |
| T9 | 185 mi west of the radar185 mi from the radar, bearing 265° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| A4 | 3 mi west southwest of North Key Largo, FL22 mi from the radar, bearing 167° | Toward the northwest at 25 mph | 1 mi south of Homestead, FL | 8 mi west southwest of Country Walk, FL | 0.2 mi |
| D6 | At Broadview Park, FL36 mi from the radar, bearing 20° | Toward the north at 21 mph | 2 mi west southwest of Margate, FL | 5 mi north of Parkland, FL | 0.2 mi |
How high it sees
The beam leaves the radar tilted up and the earth curves away under it, so the farther from the radar, the higher it passes. Rain or snow falling under the lowest beam is not seen: far from the radar, shallow snow and drizzle can fall unseen. The heights are the standard ones, the air bending the beam as the weather service’s own rule takes it.
| Tilt | 25 mi | 50 mi | 100 mi | 150 mi | 200 mi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5° | 1,500 ft | 3,600 ft | 9,600 ft | 18,200 ft | 29,200 ft |
| 1.3° | 3,300 ft | 7,200 ft | 17,000 ft | 29,300 ft | 44,000 ft |
| 2.4° | 5,800 ft | 12,300 ft | 27,200 ft | 44,500 ft | 64,400 ft |
| 3.1° | 7,500 ft | 15,600 ft | 33,600 ft | 54,200 ft | 77,400 ft |
| Width | 2,200 ft | 4,400 ft | 8,800 ft | 13,100 ft | 17,500 ft |
How to read the pictures
- Reflectivity
- How strongly rain, snow and hail send the pulse back, in dBZ: the stronger, the heavier.
- Velocity
- The wind along the beam, in mph: green toward the radar, red away. Where the two meet tightly, the wind turns.
- Storm relative velocity
- The same wind with the storms’ own motion taken away, so a storm’s turning stands out: a tight pair of green and red is a rotating storm.
- Correlation coefficient
- How alike the returns of one pulse are, 0 to 1: rain and snow near 1, hail and melting snow lower, and debris a tornado lifts well below 0.8.
- Differential reflectivity
- How much wider than tall what falls is, in dB: large flat raindrops read high, hail and dry snow near 0.
Each picture is one tilt of one scan, as the radar sent it: its lowest tilt first, then three above it, the angles its scan pattern sets. A picture at a higher tilt sees higher into a storm, and farther over the ground at each distance. Press a point on the map to read the value there.
As data: /radar/now.json?show=sref&site=KAMX, the times of its frames, and /radar/s/KAMX/storms.json, the storms it tracks.