Live/Radar/Every radar/KCAE
Single radar / South Carolina
Columbia radar KCAE
The weather service radar at Columbia, South Carolina, 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
- 33.949°N 81.119°W, 231 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | 3 mi west northwest of Fairmont, NC119 mi from the radar, bearing 70° | Toward the north at 31 mph | 7 mi southeast of Red Springs, NC | 3 mi south southeast of Rockfish, NC | 0.7 mi |
| K7 | 166 mi southeast of the radar166 mi from the radar, bearing 124° | Toward the north northeast at 39 mph | 163 mi east southeast of the radar | 163 mi east southeast of the radar | 0.8 mi |
| K8 | 11 mi south of Joanna, SC46 mi from the radar, bearing 297° | Toward the north northeast at 43 mph | - | - | 2.6 mi |
| O5 | 6 mi west of Cherryville, NC101 mi from the radar, bearing 348° | Toward the north at 39 mph | 6 mi southwest of Icard, NC | - | 1.2 mi |
| B4 | 4 mi east of Cherryville, NC99 mi from the radar, bearing 354° | Toward the north northeast at 48 mph | - | - | 2.2 mi |
| R4 | 6 mi south southeast of Gaffney, SC77 mi from the radar, bearing 338° | Toward the north at 32 mph | 3 mi south southeast of Boiling Springs, NC | 12 mi north northwest of Shelby, NC | 0.8 mi |
| G7 | 9 mi south of Elberton, GA99 mi from the radar, bearing 272° | Toward the north northeast at 52 mph | 4 mi northwest of Iva, SC | 7 mi southeast of Liberty, SC | 0.2 mi |
| Z6 | 167 mi east of the radar167 mi from the radar, bearing 97° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| R5 | 9 mi south of Ninety Six, SC52 mi from the radar, bearing 277° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| J3 | 3 mi south southwest of Martinez, GA66 mi from the radar, bearing 241° | Toward the north northeast at 62 mph | 10 mi north northwest of Edgefield, SC | - | 1.5 mi |
| A9 | 4 mi west of Sandy Springs, SC107 mi from the radar, bearing 295° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| X3 | 6 mi west northwest of Wadley, GA107 mi from the radar, bearing 228° | Toward the north northeast at 52 mph | 5 mi east northeast of Wrens, GA | - | 1.6 mi |
| L1 | 4 mi southeast of Pageland, SC70 mi from the radar, bearing 39° | Toward the north at 40 mph | 3 mi north northwest of Marshville, NC | 4 mi north of Locust, NC | 0.7 mi |
| H6 | 12 mi north of Soperton, GA129 mi from the radar, bearing 222° | Toward the north northeast at 46 mph | 4 mi west northwest of Wadley, GA | - | 1.3 mi |
| J9 | 2 mi west southwest of Irwin, SC53 mi from the radar, bearing 17° | Toward the north northeast at 45 mph | 2 mi south southeast of Weddington, NC | - | 1.4 mi |
| N9 | 9 mi southwest of Buffalo, SC61 mi from the radar, bearing 321° | Toward the north northeast at 53 mph | 5 mi south of Gaffney, SC | 6 mi north of Shelby, NC | 0.2 mi |
| F9 | 8 mi southeast of McCormick, SC61 mi from the radar, bearing 264° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| F7 | 3 mi south southwest of Prosperity, SC29 mi from the radar, bearing 302° | Toward the north northeast at 51 mph | 39 mi north northwest of the radar | 8 mi north northeast of Eureka Mill, SC | 0.3 mi |
| K5 | 6 mi north of Monarch Mill, SC66 mi from the radar, bearing 335° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| Y3 | 9 mi south southeast of Lincolnton, GA77 mi from the radar, bearing 256° | Toward the north at 24 mph | - | - | 2.8 mi |
| Y2 | 4 mi southeast of Blacksburg, SC81 mi from the radar, bearing 346° | Toward the north northeast at 33 mph | 3 mi west northwest of Bessemer City, NC | 3 mi north northeast of Lincolnton, NC | 0.7 mi |
| D5 | 13 mi southeast of Wadley, GA104 mi from the radar, bearing 218° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| S5 | 2 mi west of Aiken, SC45 mi from the radar, bearing 234° | Toward the north northeast at 41 mph | - | - | 4.7 mi |
| P7 | 6 mi south southeast of Whitmire, SC41 mi from the radar, bearing 322° | Toward the northeast at 47 mph | 6 mi west southwest of Chester, SC | - | 1.4 mi |
| F0 | 7 mi southwest of Wrens, GA96 mi from the radar, bearing 234° | Toward the north northeast at 36 mph | 4 mi southwest of Harlem, GA | 8 mi west northwest of Evans, GA | 0.2 mi |
| P0 | 4 mi south southeast of Batesburg-Leesville, SC23 mi from the radar, bearing 254° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| J0 | 8 mi west of Chesterfield, SC75 mi from the radar, bearing 43° | Toward the north northeast at 46 mph | 6 mi northeast of Polkton, NC | - | 1.7 mi |
| J4 | 12 mi northeast of Aiken, SC32 mi from the radar, bearing 239° | Toward the northeast at 39 mph | 7 mi east northeast of Batesburg-Leesville, SC | 5 mi northeast of Lake Murray of Richland, SC | 0.8 mi |
| R7 | 5 mi east of Johnston, SC36 mi from the radar, bearing 256° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 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=KCAE, the times of its frames, and /radar/s/KCAE/storms.json, the storms it tracks.