KAPX radar — Gaylord, MI
KAPX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Gaylord area, operated with the NWS office APX. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KAPX (Gaylord, Michigan) |
|---|---|
| Location | 44.9060°, -84.7200° · Otsego County |
| Elevation | 1,558 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 KAPX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KAPX, 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 KAPX | 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 KAPX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 139 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KAPX radar, 28 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in June and July. The strongest was an F4 on April 3, 1956, which passed about 43 miles west of the radar and caused 1 death. The most recent was a tornado of unknown strength on September 22, 2025, which touched down about 53 miles west-southwest of the radar.
Hail: 297 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KAPX radar since 1955, 20 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 4.50-inch hail (grapefruit size) on August 2, 2015.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 139 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 28 |
| Strongest tornado | F4 · Apr 1956 |
| Busiest tornado month | June |
| Largest hail | 4.50 in · Aug 2015 |
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.
Nearby radars
- KGRR · Grand Rapids, MI 145 mi
- KDTX · Detroit, MI 165 mi
- KGRB · Green Bay, WI 169 mi
- KMQT · Marquette, MI 177 mi
- KMKX · Milwaukee/Sullivan, WI 233 mi
KAPX radar FAQ
How often does KAPX 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 KAPX?
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 KAPX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KGRR, KDTX, KGRB).