Live/Radar/Every radar/KLTX
Single radar / North Carolina
Wilmington radar KLTX
The weather service radar at Wilmington, North 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
- 33.989°N 78.429°W, 64 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| O5 | 104 mi southeast of the radar104 mi from the radar, bearing 128° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| R4 | 123 mi east southeast of the radar123 mi from the radar, bearing 123° | Toward the north northeast at 37 mph | - | - | 3.3 mi |
| P3 | 99 mi south of the radar99 mi from the radar, bearing 191° | Toward the north northeast at 39 mph | 81 mi south of the radar | 62 mi south of the radar | 0.2 mi |
| C6 | 76 mi east southeast of the radar76 mi from the radar, bearing 111° | Toward the east northeast at 14 mph | 81 mi east southeast of the radar | - | 1.7 mi |
| H3 | 128 mi east of the radar128 mi from the radar, bearing 100° | Toward the north northeast at 35 mph | 136 mi east of the radar | - | 2 mi |
| K6 | 115 mi south southwest of the radar115 mi from the radar, bearing 200° | Toward the north northeast at 39 mph | 94 mi south southwest of the radar | - | 1 mi |
| X2 | 128 mi east southeast of the radar128 mi from the radar, bearing 107° | Toward the north northeast at 30 mph | 131 mi east of the radar | 137 mi east of the radar | 0.2 mi |
| J5 | 29 mi south southeast of the radar29 mi from the radar, bearing 156° | Toward the northeast at 23 mph | 12 mi south of Oak Island, NC | - | 1 mi |
| U4 | 89 mi east southeast of the radar89 mi from the radar, bearing 109° | Toward the north northeast at 32 mph | 90 mi east of the radar | - | 1.3 mi |
| I3 | 127 mi east southeast of the radar127 mi from the radar, bearing 113° | Toward the northeast at 31 mph | 132 mi east southeast of the radar | - | 1.5 mi |
| D1 | 66 mi south of the radar66 mi from the radar, bearing 183° | Toward the northeast at 28 mph | 55 mi south of the radar | 47 mi south southeast of the radar | 0.1 mi |
| C5 | 5 mi west northwest of Fairmont, NC58 mi from the radar, bearing 311° | Toward the north at 30 mph | 4 mi north northeast of Pembroke, NC | 5 mi west southwest of Rockfish, NC | 0.1 mi |
| B9 | 140 mi east of the radar140 mi from the radar, bearing 99° | Toward the north at 36 mph | 138 mi east of the radar | - | 1.6 mi |
| C3 | 139 mi east of the radar139 mi from the radar, bearing 93° | Toward the north northeast at 38 mph | 146 mi east of the radar | 155 mi east of the radar | 0.8 mi |
| Z5 | 76 mi south southwest of the radar76 mi from the radar, bearing 213° | Toward the north northeast at 33 mph | 11 mi south of Litchfield Beach, SC | 1 mi east southeast of Murrells Inlet, SC | 0.5 mi |
| B6 | 120 mi east of the radar120 mi from the radar, bearing 95° | Toward the northeast at 21 mph | 125 mi east of the radar | 131 mi east of the radar | 0.7 mi |
| M2 | 71 mi south southwest of the radar71 mi from the radar, bearing 199° | Toward the north northeast at 33 mph | 54 mi south southwest of the radar | - | 1.3 mi |
| W2 | 33 mi southeast of the radar33 mi from the radar, bearing 144° | Toward the north northeast at 23 mph | 12 mi south of Southport, NC | 7 mi south of Kure Beach, NC | 0.3 mi |
| M9 | 105 mi south southwest of the radar105 mi from the radar, bearing 202° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| X9 | 98 mi south southwest of the radar98 mi from the radar, bearing 207° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| R5 | 53 mi southeast of the radar53 mi from the radar, bearing 127° | Toward the northeast at 25 mph | 54 mi east southeast of the radar | 58 mi east southeast of the radar | 0.3 mi |
| K9 | 47 mi east southeast of the radar47 mi from the radar, bearing 118° | Toward the north northeast at 15 mph | 46 mi east southeast of the radar | - | 1.5 mi |
| L1 | 82 mi southeast of the radar82 mi from the radar, bearing 138° | Toward the north northeast at 31 mph | - | - | 2.9 mi |
| Y9 | 4 mi southeast of Pageland, SC121 mi from the radar, bearing 296° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| G3 | 7 mi west of Chesterfield, SC114 mi from the radar, bearing 297° | Toward the north northeast at 46 mph | 6 mi northeast of Polkton, NC | 7 mi east southeast of Badin, NC | 1 mi |
| Y1 | 5 mi southeast of Oak Island, NC22 mi from the radar, bearing 112° | Toward the north northeast at 29 mph | 3 mi west northwest of Carolina Beach, NC | 1 mi north northwest of Wrightsville Beach, NC | 0.8 mi |
| N1 | 73 mi south southeast of the radar73 mi from the radar, bearing 148° | Toward the northeast at 30 mph | 69 mi southeast of the radar | 69 mi southeast of the radar | 0.5 mi |
| G5 | 129 mi southeast of the radar129 mi from the radar, bearing 132° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| O4 | 151 mi east northeast of the radar151 mi from the radar, bearing 67° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| I2 | 62 mi southeast of the radar62 mi from the radar, bearing 125° | Toward the north northeast at 22 mph | 61 mi east southeast of the radar | 62 mi east southeast of the radar | 0.5 mi |
| N5 | 5 mi east northeast of Awendaw, SC94 mi from the radar, bearing 224° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| W4 | 82 mi south southwest of the radar82 mi from the radar, bearing 196° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| E9 | 13 mi west southwest of Chadbourn, NC40 mi from the radar, bearing 300° | Toward the north northeast at 18 mph | 9 mi southeast of Fairmont, NC | - | 1 mi |
| B8 | 71 mi south southwest of the radar71 mi from the radar, bearing 194° | Toward the northeast at 39 mph | 53 mi south of the radar | 38 mi south of the radar | 0.9 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=KLTX, the times of its frames, and /radar/s/KLTX/storms.json, the storms it tracks.