Live/Radar/Every radar/KRAX
Single radar / North Carolina
Raleigh/Durham radar KRAX
The weather service radar at Raleigh/Durham, 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
- 35.665°N 78.490°W, 348 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D8 | 198 mi south southeast of the radar198 mi from the radar, bearing 155° | Toward the northeast at 28 mph | 193 mi south southeast of the radar | 189 mi south southeast of the radar | 0.1 mi |
| Y8 | 159 mi south southeast of the radar159 mi from the radar, bearing 152° | Toward the east northeast at 17 mph | 160 mi south southeast of the radar | - | 1.8 mi |
| V9 | 169 mi south southeast of the radar169 mi from the radar, bearing 149° | Toward the north northeast at 29 mph | 160 mi southeast of the radar | - | 1.8 mi |
| B1 | 143 mi south of the radar143 mi from the radar, bearing 174° | Toward the northeast at 21 mph | 12 mi south of Oak Island, NC | 5 mi south of Southport, NC | 0.8 mi |
| A7 | 167 mi southeast of the radar167 mi from the radar, bearing 146° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| Z7 | 211 mi south southeast of the radar211 mi from the radar, bearing 151° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| E4 | 6 mi west northwest of Fairmont, NC88 mi from the radar, bearing 208° | Toward the north at 30 mph | 3 mi south southwest of Red Springs, NC | 2 mi east northeast of Raeford, NC | 0.9 mi |
| A8 | 190 mi southeast of the radar190 mi from the radar, bearing 137° | Toward the north northeast at 32 mph | 185 mi southeast of the radar | - | 1.3 mi |
| A5 | 5 mi east of Cherryville, NC159 mi from the radar, bearing 264° | Toward the north northeast at 41 mph | 3 mi south of Claremont, NC | - | 1.2 mi |
| Z6 | 173 mi southeast of the radar173 mi from the radar, bearing 135° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| U8 | 159 mi south southeast of the radar159 mi from the radar, bearing 160° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| Q0 | 138 mi southeast of the radar138 mi from the radar, bearing 138° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| V8 | 7 mi west northwest of Cherryville, NC170 mi from the radar, bearing 265° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| K2 | 14 mi west of Manteo, NC145 mi from the radar, bearing 83° | Toward the north northwest at 18 mph | 143 mi east of the radar | - | 1 mi |
| O2 | 214 mi south of the radar214 mi from the radar, bearing 184° | Toward the north northeast at 38 mph | 196 mi south of the radar | - | 2 mi |
| B0 | 5 mi southeast of Oak Island, NC127 mi from the radar, bearing 169° | Toward the north northeast at 28 mph | 2 mi west of Carolina Beach, NC | At Wrightsville Beach, NC | 1 mi |
| P4 | 129 mi east of the radar129 mi from the radar, bearing 84° | Toward the north northwest at 14 mph | 128 mi east of the radar | 127 mi east northeast of the radar | 0.2 mi |
| S4 | 2 mi east of Pageland, SC122 mi from the radar, bearing 240° | Toward the north at 38 mph | - | - | 3.1 mi |
| B5 | 2 mi west of Bassett, VA114 mi from the radar, bearing 312° | Toward the north northeast at 58 mph | 8 mi west of Westlake Corner, VA | - | 1.8 mi |
| S7 | 173 mi east southeast of the radar173 mi from the radar, bearing 112° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| N5 | 7 mi south southwest of Plum Creek, VA149 mi from the radar, bearing 310° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| F8 | 4 mi east southeast of Advance, NC106 mi from the radar, bearing 280° | Toward the north northeast at 43 mph | 1 mi east northeast of Rural Hall, NC | 8 mi south of Patrick Springs, VA | 0.7 mi |
| Y6 | 144 mi south southeast of the radar144 mi from the radar, bearing 159° | Toward the northeast at 24 mph | 138 mi south southeast of the radar | 133 mi south southeast of the radar | 0.8 mi |
| R7 | 3 mi west southwest of Southmont, NC102 mi from the radar, bearing 270° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| V0 | At Enon, VA131 mi from the radar, bearing 29° | Toward the north northeast at 35 mph | 8 mi east of Sandston, VA | 6 mi east of Central Garage, VA | 0.9 mi |
| M6 | 12 mi west northwest of Stuart, VA131 mi from the radar, bearing 303° | Toward the north at 51 mph | 7 mi south of Christiansburg, VA | - | 2 mi |
| E9 | 3 mi southwest of Shawsville, VA143 mi from the radar, bearing 316° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| I1 | 9 mi northeast of Amherst, VA142 mi from the radar, bearing 350° | Toward the northeast at 49 mph | - | - | 3.2 mi |
| V6 | 1 mi west northwest of Tuckahoe, VA143 mi from the radar, bearing 20° | Toward the west at 31 mph | - | - | 4.5 mi |
| K4 | 2 mi east northeast of Myrtle Grove, NC112 mi from the radar, bearing 161° | Toward the northeast at 33 mph | 3 mi southeast of Hampstead, NC | - | 1.6 mi |
| D9 | 9 mi east northeast of Flat Rock, NC124 mi from the radar, bearing 300° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| D6 | 12 mi northwest of Tabor City, NC101 mi from the radar, bearing 198° | Toward the north northeast at 16 mph | 10 mi west northwest of Chadbourn, NC | 9 mi east of Fairmont, NC | 0.8 mi |
| Z9 | 6 mi north northwest of Northwest, NC90 mi from the radar, bearing 169° | Toward the northeast at 23 mph | 10 mi west of Burgaw, NC | - | 1 mi |
| U7 | 8 mi west of Bedford, VA134 mi from the radar, bearing 331° | Toward the north northeast at 49 mph | 5 mi northwest of Glasgow, VA | 15 mi north of East Lexington, VA | 0.2 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=KRAX, the times of its frames, and /radar/s/KRAX/storms.json, the storms it tracks.