KAMX radar — Miami, FL
KAMX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Miami area, operated with the NWS office MFL. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KAMX (Miami, Florida) |
|---|---|
| Location | 25.6110°, -80.4130° · Monroe County |
| Elevation | 108 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 KAMX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KAMX, 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 KAMX | 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 KAMX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 359 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KAMX radar, 20 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in June and August. The strongest was an F3 on March 1, 1980, which passed about 41 miles north-northeast of the radar and caused 1 death. The most recent was an EF1 on October 9, 2024, which touched down about 11 miles southwest of the radar.
Hail: 213 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KAMX radar since 1955, 10 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 4.00-inch hail (softball size) on March 29, 1963.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 359 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 20 |
| Strongest tornado | F3 · Mar 1980 |
| Busiest tornado month | June |
| Largest hail | 4.00 in · Mar 1963 |
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 KAMX
- Miami, FL 17 mi northeast
Nearby radars
- KBYX · Key West, FL 107 mi
- KMLB · Melbourne, FL 174 mi
- KTBW · Tampa, FL 190 mi
- KJAX · Jacksonville, FL 346 mi
- KVAX · Moody AFB, GA 397 mi
KAMX radar FAQ
How often does KAMX 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 KAMX?
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 KAMX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KBYX, KMLB, KTBW).