Live/Radar/Every radar/KTBW
Single radar / Florida
Tampa radar KTBW
The weather service radar at Tampa, Florida, 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
- 27.705°N 82.402°W, 41 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| O1 | 2 mi west southwest of Tarpon Springs, FL38 mi from the radar, bearing 321° | Toward the north northeast at 30 mph | At Bayonet Point, FL | 2 mi south southwest of North Weeki Wachee, FL | 1.2 mi |
| M4 | 166 mi south southwest of the radar166 mi from the radar, bearing 201° | Toward the southwest at 13 mph | - | - | 3.3 mi |
| T4 | 175 mi south southwest of the radar175 mi from the radar, bearing 200° | Toward the north northeast at 10 mph | 170 mi south southwest of the radar | 165 mi south southwest of the radar | 0.1 mi |
| M0 | 99 mi north northwest of the radar99 mi from the radar, bearing 331° | Toward the northeast at 37 mph | 108 mi north northwest of the radar | 7 mi south of Chiefland, FL | 0.3 mi |
| C9 | 3 mi southwest of Chiefland, FL124 mi from the radar, bearing 346° | Toward the northeast at 29 mph | 4 mi east of Trenton, FL | 4 mi south southwest of High Springs, FL | 0.7 mi |
| Q9 | 89 mi southwest of the radar89 mi from the radar, bearing 232° | Toward the north northeast at 23 mph | 78 mi southwest of the radar | 70 mi west southwest of the radar | 0.5 mi |
| M7 | 99 mi southwest of the radar99 mi from the radar, bearing 227° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| W7 | 77 mi west southwest of the radar77 mi from the radar, bearing 237° | Toward the northeast at 20 mph | 67 mi west southwest of the radar | - | 1.5 mi |
| D4 | 212 mi south southwest of the radar212 mi from the radar, bearing 200° | Toward the north at 25 mph | 199 mi south southwest of the radar | - | 1.4 mi |
| R3 | 75 mi west northwest of the radar75 mi from the radar, bearing 285° | Toward the north northeast at 25 mph | 72 mi west northwest of the radar | 73 mi northwest of the radar | 0.6 mi |
| D1 | 52 mi southwest of the radar52 mi from the radar, bearing 233° | Toward the north northeast at 22 mph | 43 mi west southwest of the radar | 12 mi west of Anna Maria, FL | 0.6 mi |
| I0 | 38 mi west of the radar38 mi from the radar, bearing 265° | Toward the north northeast at 23 mph | 7 mi west southwest of Indian Shores, FL | - | 2.3 mi |
| P9 | 4 mi east northeast of Tierra Verde, FL16 mi from the radar, bearing 270° | Toward the north northeast at 25 mph | 5 mi east southeast of Feather Sound, FL | 2 mi east southeast of Carrollwood, FL | 0.2 mi |
| I2 | 106 mi north northwest of the radar106 mi from the radar, bearing 337° | Toward the northeast at 35 mph | 12 mi south of Chiefland, FL | - | 2.8 mi |
| F6 | 2 mi north northeast of Belleair, FL30 mi from the radar, bearing 306° | Toward the east northeast at 14 mph | 1 mi south of Safety Harbor, FL | - | 1.8 mi |
| S8 | 92 mi west of the radar92 mi from the radar, bearing 262° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| L6 | 112 mi north northwest of the radar112 mi from the radar, bearing 334° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| P4 | 87 mi northwest of the radar88 mi from the radar, bearing 306° | Toward the northeast at 28 mph | 89 mi northwest of the radar | - | 1.5 mi |
| Y6 | 86 mi west northwest of the radar86 mi from the radar, bearing 302° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| G4 | 86 mi west of the radar86 mi from the radar, bearing 267° | Toward the north northeast at 26 mph | 78 mi west of the radar | 73 mi west northwest of the radar | 1 mi |
| E4 | 14 mi west northwest of Anna Maria, FL35 mi from the radar, bearing 258° | Toward the north northeast at 20 mph | 8 mi southwest of North Redington Beach, FL | 2 mi southwest of Indian Rocks Beach, FL | 0.7 mi |
| Z6 | 4 mi west southwest of Indian Shores, FL32 mi from the radar, bearing 286° | Toward the north northeast at 26 mph | 3 mi west southwest of Dunedin, FL | 1 mi east southeast of Holiday, FL | 0.5 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=KTBW, the times of its frames, and /radar/s/KTBW/storms.json, the storms it tracks.