Live/Radar/Every radar/KMHX
Single radar / North Carolina
Morehead City radar KMHX
The weather service radar at Morehead City, 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 215
- Tilts
- 0.5°, 1.3°, 2.4°, 3.1°
- Stands at
- 34.776°N 76.876°W, 31 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| H9 | 120 mi south of the radar120 mi from the radar, bearing 184° | Toward the north at 22 mph | 108 mi south of the radar | - | 2 mi |
| V3 | 121 mi south of the radar121 mi from the radar, bearing 173° | Toward the northeast at 53 mph | - | - | 3.1 mi |
| G5 | 128 mi southeast of the radar128 mi from the radar, bearing 129° | Toward the north northeast at 12 mph | 125 mi southeast of the radar | 124 mi southeast of the radar | 0.9 mi |
| U9 | 125 mi south of the radar125 mi from the radar, bearing 177° | Toward the north northeast at 25 mph | 114 mi south of the radar | - | 1.5 mi |
| J7 | 98 mi south southeast of the radar98 mi from the radar, bearing 161° | Toward the north northeast at 29 mph | 90 mi south southeast of the radar | 83 mi southeast of the radar | 0.7 mi |
| O4 | 93 mi south southeast of the radar93 mi from the radar, bearing 147° | Toward the north northeast at 32 mph | 83 mi southeast of the radar | 75 mi southeast of the radar | 1.2 mi |
| X8 | 85 mi south southeast of the radar85 mi from the radar, bearing 154° | Toward the northeast at 33 mph | 79 mi southeast of the radar | 76 mi southeast of the radar | 0.5 mi |
| A8 | 83 mi south southwest of the radar83 mi from the radar, bearing 193° | Toward the east northeast at 15 mph | 79 mi south of the radar | - | 1.4 mi |
| O8 | 108 mi south southeast of the radar108 mi from the radar, bearing 166° | Toward the northeast at 28 mph | 101 mi south southeast of the radar | 97 mi south southeast of the radar | 0.1 mi |
| Z5 | 96 mi east northeast of the radar96 mi from the radar, bearing 72° | Toward the north northeast at 9 mph | 99 mi east northeast of the radar | - | 1.7 mi |
| C7 | 83 mi south of the radar83 mi from the radar, bearing 184° | Toward the north northeast at 39 mph | 64 mi south of the radar | 45 mi south of the radar | 0.8 mi |
| A4 | 113 mi south of the radar113 mi from the radar, bearing 179° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| E9 | 79 mi southeast of the radar79 mi from the radar, bearing 142° | Toward the north at 26 mph | 70 mi southeast of the radar | - | 2.3 mi |
| K9 | 113 mi southwest of the radar113 mi from the radar, bearing 224° | Toward the northeast at 21 mph | 14 mi south of Oak Island, NC | 6 mi south of Southport, NC | 1 mi |
| F3 | 5 mi northwest of Fairmont, NC131 mi from the radar, bearing 264° | Toward the north at 38 mph | 4 mi east of Red Springs, NC | 5 mi west northwest of Fayetteville, NC | 0.6 mi |
| V4 | 78 mi south of the radar78 mi from the radar, bearing 180° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| P4 | 107 mi southwest of the radar107 mi from the radar, bearing 221° | Toward the north northeast at 31 mph | 10 mi south southeast of Southport, NC | 3 mi east of Kure Beach, NC | 0.9 mi |
| P0 | 127 mi south southwest of the radar127 mi from the radar, bearing 204° | Toward the north northeast at 31 mph | 110 mi south southwest of the radar | 96 mi south southwest of the radar | 0.8 mi |
| A2 | 75 mi south of the radar75 mi from the radar, bearing 173° | Toward the northeast at 29 mph | - | - | 3.3 mi |
| B8 | 151 mi east of the radar151 mi from the radar, bearing 95° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| A5 | 121 mi south southwest of the radar121 mi from the radar, bearing 197° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| U3 | 104 mi southeast of the radar104 mi from the radar, bearing 133° | Toward the north northeast at 13 mph | 101 mi southeast of the radar | - | 2.1 mi |
| G9 | 146 mi east southeast of the radar146 mi from the radar, bearing 114° | Toward the northeast at 36 mph | - | - | 4.4 mi |
| J8 | 99 mi south southwest of the radar99 mi from the radar, bearing 209° | Toward the northeast at 28 mph | 85 mi south southwest of the radar | 71 mi south southwest of the radar | 0.8 mi |
| R9 | 96 mi south southwest of the radar96 mi from the radar, bearing 204° | Toward the north northeast at 51 mph | - | - | 2.8 mi |
| N5 | 186 mi southwest of the radar186 mi from the radar, bearing 216° | Toward the northeast at 38 mph | 167 mi southwest of the radar | 147 mi southwest of the radar | 1 mi |
| S4 | 106 mi east southeast of the radar106 mi from the radar, bearing 115° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| W5 | 4 mi southeast of Oak Island, NC92 mi from the radar, bearing 228° | Toward the northeast at 29 mph | 2 mi west northwest of Carolina Beach, NC | 1 mi north northeast of Wrightsville Beach, NC | 0.8 mi |
| A1 | 83 mi north northeast of the radar83 mi from the radar, bearing 26° | Toward the north northwest at 14 mph | 89 mi north northeast of the radar | - | 1.3 mi |
| W6 | 145 mi southeast of the radar145 mi from the radar, bearing 133° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| F6 | 94 mi southwest of the radar94 mi from the radar, bearing 214° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| O6 | 58 mi south southeast of the radar58 mi from the radar, bearing 166° | Toward the north at 20 mph | 48 mi south southeast of the radar | - | 2 mi |
| D3 | 85 mi south southwest of the radar85 mi from the radar, bearing 211° | Toward the north northeast at 20 mph | - | - | 3.6 mi |
| I0 | 116 mi south southeast of the radar116 mi from the radar, bearing 150° | Toward the north northeast at 31 mph | - | - | 3.8 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=KMHX, the times of its frames, and /radar/s/KMHX/storms.json, the storms it tracks.