Live/Radar/Every radar/KBYX
Single radar / Florida
Key West radar KBYX
The weather service radar at Key West, 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 215
- Tilts
- 0.5°, 1.3°, 2.4°, 3.1°
- Stands at
- 24.597°N 81.703°W, 8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S2 | 112 mi west northwest of the radar112 mi from the radar, bearing 293° | Toward the north northeast at 7 mph | - | - | 3.1 mi |
| E0 | 120 mi west northwest of the radar120 mi from the radar, bearing 301° | Toward the west southwest at 5 mph | 121 mi west northwest of the radar | - | 1.5 mi |
| A4 | 121 mi northwest of the radar121 mi from the radar, bearing 306° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| V0 | 112 mi west of the radar112 mi from the radar, bearing 279° | Toward the north northeast at 20 mph | 109 mi west northwest of the radar | 107 mi west northwest of the radar | 0.7 mi |
| V3 | 106 mi east northeast of the radar106 mi from the radar, bearing 70° | Toward the northwest at 22 mph | 8 mi southeast of North Key Largo, FL | 3 mi northwest of North Key Largo, FL | 0.5 mi |
| I4 | 75 mi east of the radar75 mi from the radar, bearing 91° | Toward the northwest at 14 mph | 69 mi east of the radar | 64 mi east of the radar | 0.8 mi |
| V2 | 113 mi west southwest of the radar113 mi from the radar, bearing 257° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| J3 | 109 mi northwest of the radar109 mi from the radar, bearing 305° | Toward the northeast at 15 mph | - | - | 2.9 mi |
| G5 | 110 mi east southeast of the radar111 mi from the radar, bearing 104° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| C5 | 115 mi northwest of the radar115 mi from the radar, bearing 317° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| M4 | 74 mi east southeast of the radar74 mi from the radar, bearing 113° | Toward the west northwest at 13 mph | 68 mi east southeast of the radar | 62 mi east southeast of the radar | 0.8 mi |
| B5 | 2 mi south southeast of Miami Beach, FL129 mi from the radar, bearing 50° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| L2 | 115 mi east northeast of the radar115 mi from the radar, bearing 70° | Toward the north northwest at 16 mph | 115 mi east northeast of the radar | 15 mi east northeast of North Key Largo, FL | 0.3 mi |
| G2 | 90 mi southeast of the radar90 mi from the radar, bearing 132° | Toward the west northwest at 12 mph | 84 mi southeast of the radar | 79 mi southeast of the radar | 0.5 mi |
| J2 | 4 mi west northwest of North Key Largo, FL99 mi from the radar, bearing 59° | Toward the north northwest at 31 mph | 3 mi west northwest of Naranja, FL | - | 1 mi |
| O4 | 119 mi east northeast of the radar119 mi from the radar, bearing 63° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| F1 | 69 mi east of the radar69 mi from the radar, bearing 101° | Toward the west northwest at 24 mph | 58 mi east of the radar | 12 mi south southeast of Marathon, FL | 0.6 mi |
| P4 | 8 mi east northeast of Key Biscayne, FL130 mi from the radar, bearing 53° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| H4 | 101 mi west of the radar101 mi from the radar, bearing 271° | Toward the south southeast at 10 mph | 98 mi west of the radar | - | 1.7 mi |
| U4 | 109 mi east of the radar109 mi from the radar, bearing 96° | Toward the northwest at 23 mph | 102 mi east of the radar | 96 mi east of the radar | 0.5 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=KBYX, the times of its frames, and /radar/s/KBYX/storms.json, the storms it tracks.