KABR radar — Aberdeen, SD
KABR is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Aberdeen area, operated with the NWS office ABR. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KABR (Aberdeen, South Dakota) |
|---|---|
| Location | 45.4560°, -98.4130° · Brown County |
| Elevation | 1,381 ft above sea level |
| Type | WSR-88D (NEXRAD) S-band dual-polarization Doppler radar |
| Products in TALON | Super-res reflectivity (0.25 km), velocity, storm-relative velocity, rotation (azimuthal shear), correlation coefficient PRO |
How high can KABR see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KABR, the higher above the ground the radar is looking. Tornadoes start in the lowest few thousand feet, so storms close to the radar show low-level rotation much better.
| Distance from KABR | Lowest scan (0.5°) | Next scan (1.5°) |
|---|---|---|
| 10 mi | 500 ft | 1,400 ft |
| 25 mi | 1,500 ft | 3,800 ft |
| 50 mi | 3,600 ft | 8,200 ft |
| 75 mi | 6,300 ft | 13,200 ft |
| 100 mi | 9,600 ft | 18,800 ft |
| 150 mi | 18,200 ft | 32,000 ft |
Height of the beam's center above the radar, using standard refraction. Terrain can raise or block the beam.
Severe weather inside KABR's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 350 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KABR radar, 54 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in June and July. The strongest was an F4 on June 23, 2002, which passed about 15 miles north of the radar. The most recent was a tornado of unknown strength on August 5, 2025, which touched down about 33 miles west-northwest of the radar.
Hail: 1,445 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KABR radar since 1955, 188 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 5.00-inch hail (grapefruit size) on June 28, 1955.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 350 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 54 |
| Strongest tornado | F4 · Jun 2002 |
| Busiest tornado month | June |
| Largest hail | 5.00 in · Jun 1955 |
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database — tornadoes 1950–2025, hail 1955–2025 (the latest year is preliminary). Distances are to each tornado's recorded track; ratings before February 2007 use the original Fujita (F) scale.
Cities covered by KABR
- Fargo, ND 125 mi northeast
- Sioux Falls, SD 156 mi south-southeast
Nearby radars
- KBIS · Bismarck, ND 145 mi
- KMVX · Grand Forks, ND 152 mi
- KFSD · Sioux Falls, SD 153 mi
- KMBX · Minot AFB, ND 234 mi
- KUDX · Rapid City, SD 235 mi
KABR radar FAQ
How often does KABR update?
Every NEXRAD radar completes a full scan about every 4–6 minutes in storm mode, and repeats the lowest tilt more often (SAILS) during severe weather. TALON loads each new scan as it arrives.
What is the range of KABR?
Reflectivity reaches about 290 miles and velocity about 185 miles, but useful low-level detail is within roughly 100 miles — see the table above.
Is KABR down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KBIS, KMVX, KFSD).