Single radar / South Carolina

Greer radar KGSP

The weather service radar at Greer, 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: 6:28 AM UTC
Scanning: Precipitation mode, pattern 212
Tilts: 0.5°, 1.3°, 2.4°, 3.1°
Stands at: 34.883°N 82.220°W, 955 ft above sea level
Reaches: 286 mi with reflectivity, 186 mi with velocity, 143 mi with storm relative velocity

KGSP on the map

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 cells KGSP tracks, from its scan of 6:23 AM UTC
Storm	Where	Moving	In 30 minutes	In 60 minutes	Last forecast off by
I7	5 mi east of Cherryville, NC63 mi from the radar, bearing 56°	Toward the north northeast at 45 mph	3 mi south southeast of Claremont, NC	9 mi northeast of Stony Point, NC	0.8 mi
K7	5 mi southeast of East Gaffney, SC38 mi from the radar, bearing 75°	Toward the north at 33 mph	2 mi south southwest of Shelby, NC	12 mi northwest of Cherryville, NC	0.5 mi
M6	7 mi north of Shelby, NC52 mi from the radar, bearing 47°	Toward the north at 40 mph	4 mi south of Valdese, NC	6 mi north northwest of Lenoir, NC	0.6 mi
Y1	5 mi west of Sandy Springs, SC40 mi from the radar, bearing 240°	Toward the north northeast at 55 mph	7 mi northeast of Pickens, SC	1 mi east northeast of Hendersonville, NC	0.3 mi
Q0	10 mi north of Walhalla, SC50 mi from the radar, bearing 273°	Toward the north northeast at 23 mph	9 mi east northeast of Highlands, NC	11 mi east southeast of Cullowhee, NC	0.2 mi
K0	7 mi south southeast of Elberton, GA69 mi from the radar, bearing 210°	Toward the north northeast at 52 mph	5 mi north northwest of Iva, SC	6 mi south of Easley, SC	0.7 mi
M0	4 mi southwest of Sylva, NC67 mi from the radar, bearing 298°	Toward the north at 58 mph	82 mi northwest of the radar	102 mi north northwest of the radar	0.1 mi
R3	6 mi east of Ninety Six, SC52 mi from the radar, bearing 160°	First seen this scan	-	-	0 mi
V0	7 mi southwest of Buffalo, SC31 mi from the radar, bearing 122°	Toward the north northeast at 54 mph	4 mi southeast of Gaffney, SC	-	1.4 mi
Y9	8 mi south southeast of Joanna, SC47 mi from the radar, bearing 148°	Toward the north northeast at 48 mph	-	-	5.1 mi
M7	7 mi northwest of Louisville, GA125 mi from the radar, bearing 187°	Toward the north northeast at 30 mph	6 mi north of Wrens, GA	-	1.8 mi
P5	7 mi east southeast of Pageland, SC111 mi from the radar, bearing 95°	Toward the north at 39 mph	4 mi east northeast of Marshville, NC	4 mi north northeast of Oakboro, NC	0.2 mi
P4	6 mi northwest of Marion, NC60 mi from the radar, bearing 7°	Toward the north at 49 mph	9 mi west southwest of Banner Elk, NC	15 mi north northwest of Cove Creek, NC	0.2 mi
K5	1 mi south of Martinez, GA96 mi from the radar, bearing 176°	Toward the north at 37 mph	-	-	3.3 mi
J8	5 mi north of Lugoff, SC96 mi from the radar, bearing 115°	Toward the north at 45 mph	6 mi southeast of Elgin, SC	4 mi south southwest of Monroe, NC	0.6 mi
J1	8 mi east southeast of McCormick, SC70 mi from the radar, bearing 177°	Toward the north at 43 mph	1 mi southeast of Greenwood, SC	7 mi west of Laurens, SC	0.8 mi
A3	7 mi west northwest of Wadley, GA137 mi from the radar, bearing 187°	Toward the north northeast at 51 mph	4 mi east northeast of Wrens, GA	-	2 mi
R1	3 mi southwest of Southmont, NC120 mi from the radar, bearing 64°	First seen this scan	-	-	0 mi
O1	10 mi north of Sparta, NC136 mi from the radar, bearing 26°	Toward the north at 47 mph	159 mi north northeast of the radar	-	1.3 mi
I4	144 mi north northeast of the radar144 mi from the radar, bearing 30°	First seen this scan	-	-	0 mi
X7	10 mi south of Valdese, NC62 mi from the radar, bearing 37°	Toward the north northeast at 51 mph	9 mi northeast of Hudson, NC	3 mi north northwest of Mulberry, NC	0.9 mi
A0	4 mi north northeast of Clinton, SC32 mi from the radar, bearing 141°	Toward the north northeast at 46 mph	5 mi south southeast of Pacolet, SC	4 mi north northeast of East Gaffney, SC	0.3 mi
X1	At Irwin, SC81 mi from the radar, bearing 99°	Toward the north northeast at 43 mph	-	-	5.5 mi
W0	4 mi west of Welcome, NC128 mi from the radar, bearing 56°	Toward the north northeast at 41 mph	3 mi southeast of Rural Hall, NC	13 mi west northwest of Mayodan, NC	0.8 mi
W4	8 mi south southeast of Ninety Six, SC59 mi from the radar, bearing 167°	Toward the north northwest at 20 mph	-	-	2.8 mi
Q4	8 mi north of Monarch Mill, SC36 mi from the radar, bearing 95°	Toward the north at 36 mph	-	-	4.4 mi
D9	6 mi west of Taylorsville, NC90 mi from the radar, bearing 36°	Toward the north northeast at 53 mph	3 mi north northeast of Hays, NC	142 mi north northeast of the radar	0.2 mi
V9	99 mi north northwest of the radar99 mi from the radar, bearing 334°	Toward the north at 52 mph	121 mi north northwest of the radar	-	1.8 mi
R5	6 mi southeast of Westminster, SC50 mi from the radar, bearing 247°	Toward the north northeast at 46 mph	6 mi north of Keowee Key, SC	-	1.4 mi
K6	4 mi south southwest of Augusta, GA102 mi from the radar, bearing 173°	First seen this scan	-	-	0 mi
U9	12 mi east southeast of Wadley, GA146 mi from the radar, bearing 180°	Toward the north northeast at 39 mph	6 mi southwest of Waynesboro, GA	6 mi east of Hephzibah, GA	0.6 mi
F1	8 mi south of Blowing Rock, NC84 mi from the radar, bearing 21°	Toward the north at 53 mph	4 mi west of West Jefferson, NC	137 mi north northeast of the radar	0.3 mi
A4	4 mi west southwest of Pageland, SC100 mi from the radar, bearing 95°	Toward the north at 36 mph	2 mi east northeast of Wingate, NC	4 mi east of Locust, NC	0.3 mi
W6	9 mi southeast of Johnston, SC84 mi from the radar, bearing 158°	Toward the north northeast at 44 mph	10 mi south of Prosperity, SC	12 mi east northeast of Newberry, SC	0.7 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.

The middle of each tilt’s beam, in feet above the radar’s antenna, and how wide the beam has grown
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=KGSP, the times of its frames, and /radar/s/KGSP/storms.json, the storms it tracks.