Live/Radar/Every radar/KESX
Single radar / Nevada
Las Vegas radar KESX
The weather service radar at Las Vegas, Nevada, 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
- 35.701°N 114.891°W, 4,867 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F6 | 15 mi east of Peach Springs, AZ98 mi from the radar, bearing 96° | Toward the north at 55 mph | 96 mi east of the radar | 100 mi east northeast of the radar | 1 mi |
| E7 | 13 mi west southwest of Peach Springs, AZ73 mi from the radar, bearing 102° | Toward the north northeast at 51 mph | 78 mi east of the radar | - | 2.3 mi |
| W5 | 81 mi east southeast of the radar81 mi from the radar, bearing 112° | Toward the north at 58 mph | 13 mi northwest of Peach Springs, AZ | 77 mi east northeast of the radar | 1.2 mi |
| N6 | 70 mi south southwest of the radar70 mi from the radar, bearing 203° | Toward the northwest at 49 mph | 62 mi southwest of the radar | 63 mi west southwest of the radar | 0.8 mi |
| Q6 | 53 mi northeast of the radar53 mi from the radar, bearing 46° | Toward the north at 62 mph | 6 mi south southwest of Bunkerville, NV | 108 mi north northeast of the radar | 0.3 mi |
| P6 | 83 mi south of the radar83 mi from the radar, bearing 172° | Toward the north northwest at 68 mph | - | - | 3.5 mi |
| O4 | 6 mi east southeast of Moapa Valley, NV66 mi from the radar, bearing 27° | Toward the north at 54 mph | 90 mi north northeast of the radar | - | 1.6 mi |
| A7 | 11 mi north of Meadview, AZ55 mi from the radar, bearing 56° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| R6 | 98 mi northeast of the radar98 mi from the radar, bearing 46° | Toward the north northwest at 47 mph | - | - | 5.5 mi |
| X6 | 87 mi northwest of the radar88 mi from the radar, bearing 323° | Toward the west southwest at 6 mph | 87 mi northwest of the radar | 89 mi northwest of the radar | 0.8 mi |
| L7 | 68 mi east northeast of the radar68 mi from the radar, bearing 67° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| K6 | 33 mi southwest of the radar33 mi from the radar, bearing 224° | Toward the north at 60 mph | 25 mi west northwest of the radar | - | 2 mi |
| J7 | 38 mi south southwest of the radar38 mi from the radar, bearing 209° | Toward the north northeast at 82 mph | - | - | 5.4 mi |
| N7 | 51 mi north of the radar51 mi from the radar, bearing 10° | Toward the east northeast at 53 mph | - | - | 6.3 mi |
| M6 | 71 mi south southwest of the radar71 mi from the radar, bearing 195° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| O6 | 4 mi north of Summerlin South, NV41 mi from the radar, bearing 325° | Toward the east at 10 mph | 4 mi west northwest of Las Vegas, NV | - | 2.2 mi |
| B7 | 56 mi west northwest of the radar56 mi from the radar, bearing 291° | Toward the north at 72 mph | - | - | 5.8 mi |
| T6 | 78 mi west northwest of the radar78 mi from the radar, bearing 287° | Toward the north northeast at 35 mph | - | - | 2.6 mi |
| Q7 | 15 mi south southwest of the radar15 mi from the radar, bearing 200° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| K7 | 3 mi west northwest of Paradise, NV32 mi from the radar, bearing 331° | Toward the west at 48 mph | - | - | 6.2 mi |
| V7 | 35 mi south southwest of the radar35 mi from the radar, bearing 204° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| W6 | 48 mi southwest of the radar48 mi from the radar, bearing 220° | Toward the northwest at 47 mph | 49 mi west southwest of the radar | 60 mi west of the radar | 1.2 mi |
| I5 | 8 mi northeast of Nellis AFB, NV45 mi from the radar, bearing 354° | Toward the north at 39 mph | 64 mi north of the radar | - | 2.1 mi |
| W7 | 12 mi southwest of Sandy Valley, NV52 mi from the radar, bearing 271° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| N5 | 16 mi southwest of the radar16 mi from the radar, bearing 235° | Toward the north at 48 mph | 9 mi southeast of Enterprise, NV | 2 mi northwest of Nellis AFB, NV | 1.2 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=KESX, the times of its frames, and /radar/s/KESX/storms.json, the storms it tracks.