Live/Radar/Every radar/KCLX
Single radar / South Carolina
Charleston, SC radar KCLX
The weather service radar at Charleston, SC, 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 215
- Tilts
- 0.5°, 1.3°, 2.4°, 3.1°
- Stands at
- 32.656°N 81.042°W, 115 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G6 | 135 mi east of the radar135 mi from the radar, bearing 90° | Toward the north northeast at 38 mph | 144 mi east of the radar | - | 2 mi |
| N1 | 146 mi southeast of the radar146 mi from the radar, bearing 124° | Toward the north northeast at 62 mph | - | - | 4.3 mi |
| F0 | 158 mi southeast of the radar158 mi from the radar, bearing 134° | Toward the north northeast at 38 mph | 153 mi southeast of the radar | 152 mi east southeast of the radar | 1.2 mi |
| T5 | 115 mi east of the radar115 mi from the radar, bearing 91° | Toward the north northeast at 41 mph | 124 mi east of the radar | - | 1.3 mi |
| J1 | 154 mi southeast of the radar154 mi from the radar, bearing 130° | Toward the north northeast at 43 mph | 153 mi east southeast of the radar | 155 mi east southeast of the radar | 1 mi |
| X7 | 116 mi east of the radar116 mi from the radar, bearing 97° | Toward the north northeast at 38 mph | 121 mi east of the radar | 128 mi east of the radar | 0.8 mi |
| N9 | 130 mi east of the radar130 mi from the radar, bearing 83° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| G0 | 206 mi south southeast of the radar206 mi from the radar, bearing 151° | Toward the north northeast at 26 mph | 198 mi south southeast of the radar | - | 1.7 mi |
| K0 | 6 mi south southeast of Ninety Six, SC113 mi from the radar, bearing 332° | Toward the north northeast at 75 mph | 7 mi north northwest of Whitmire, SC | - | 1.4 mi |
| F8 | 130 mi east southeast of the radar130 mi from the radar, bearing 111° | Toward the north northeast at 36 mph | 135 mi east southeast of the radar | 140 mi east of the radar | 1.2 mi |
| P1 | 234 mi east of the radar234 mi from the radar, bearing 82° | Toward the northeast at 29 mph | 244 mi east of the radar | - | 2 mi |
| U1 | 8 mi north northwest of Louisville, GA89 mi from the radar, bearing 291° | Toward the north northeast at 43 mph | - | - | 4 mi |
| S8 | 114 mi east northeast of the radar114 mi from the radar, bearing 75° | Toward the north at 30 mph | 12 mi south of Litchfield Beach, SC | 5 mi south southeast of Murrells Inlet, SC | 1 mi |
| V7 | 152 mi east of the radar152 mi from the radar, bearing 79° | Toward the northeast at 26 mph | 162 mi east northeast of the radar | 173 mi east northeast of the radar | 0.8 mi |
| M1 | 154 mi east southeast of the radar154 mi from the radar, bearing 117° | Toward the north northeast at 37 mph | 151 mi east southeast of the radar | 151 mi east southeast of the radar | 1 mi |
| T8 | 175 mi east northeast of the radar175 mi from the radar, bearing 67° | Toward the northeast at 20 mph | 183 mi east northeast of the radar | 191 mi east northeast of the radar | 0.5 mi |
| X2 | 108 mi east of the radar108 mi from the radar, bearing 86° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| C9 | 7 mi south southeast of Elberton, GA139 mi from the radar, bearing 313° | Toward the north northeast at 52 mph | 6 mi south southwest of Homeland Park, SC | 6 mi southwest of Powdersville, SC | 0.2 mi |
| M6 | 247 mi east of the radar247 mi from the radar, bearing 84° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| M3 | 11 mi south southeast of Wrightsville, GA92 mi from the radar, bearing 268° | Toward the north northeast at 40 mph | 6 mi west of Wadley, GA | 5 mi south southeast of Wrens, GA | 0.5 mi |
| A1 | 140 mi east southeast of the radar140 mi from the radar, bearing 102° | Toward the northeast at 25 mph | 146 mi east of the radar | - | 2.1 mi |
| D3 | 170 mi northeast of the radar170 mi from the radar, bearing 39° | Toward the north at 31 mph | 182 mi northeast of the radar | - | 1.4 mi |
| B8 | 5 mi east northeast of Awendaw, SC90 mi from the radar, bearing 74° | Toward the north northeast at 35 mph | 13 mi southwest of Georgetown, SC | 10 mi east northeast of Andrews, SC | 0.9 mi |
| Q1 | 1 mi west of Martinez, GA86 mi from the radar, bearing 314° | Toward the north northeast at 56 mph | - | - | 2.6 mi |
| K1 | 4 mi south of Clemson University, SC170 mi from the radar, bearing 323° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| E0 | 7 mi northwest of Wadley, GA86 mi from the radar, bearing 283° | Toward the north northeast at 51 mph | 5 mi north northeast of Wrens, GA | - | 1.6 mi |
| C4 | 8 mi southwest of Buffalo, SC145 mi from the radar, bearing 343° | Toward the north northeast at 52 mph | 4 mi south of Gaffney, SC | - | 2 mi |
| X6 | 6 mi northwest of Camden, SC116 mi from the radar, bearing 10° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| Z5 | 12 mi northeast of Five Points, FL182 mi from the radar, bearing 208° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| H8 | 5 mi southeast of Gaffney, SC166 mi from the radar, bearing 349° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| T9 | 6 mi southwest of Davisboro, GA97 mi from the radar, bearing 282° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| R4 | 9 mi south of Joanna, SC121 mi from the radar, bearing 339° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| V3 | 4 mi east northeast of Hanahan, SC67 mi from the radar, bearing 72° | Toward the north northeast at 40 mph | 8 mi east northeast of Moncks Corner, SC | 11 mi northeast of St. Stephen, SC | 0.6 mi |
| S0 | 182 mi southeast of the radar182 mi from the radar, bearing 140° | Toward the north northeast at 31 mph | 177 mi southeast of the radar | - | 1.5 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=KCLX, the times of its frames, and /radar/s/KCLX/storms.json, the storms it tracks.