KARX radar — La Crosse, WI
KARX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the La Crosse area, operated with the NWS office ARX. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KARX (La Crosse, Wisconsin) |
|---|---|
| Location | 43.8230°, -91.1910° · La Crosse County |
| Elevation | 1,355 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 KARX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KARX, 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 KARX | 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 KARX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 304 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KARX radar, 67 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in June and May. The strongest was an F4 on May 10, 1953, which passed about 35 miles northwest of the radar and caused 2 deaths. The most recent was an EF0 on September 22, 2025, which touched down about 37 miles south-southeast of the radar.
Hail: 1,269 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KARX radar since 1955, 151 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 4.50-inch hail (grapefruit size) on June 1, 2000.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 304 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 67 |
| Strongest tornado | F4 · May 1953 |
| Busiest tornado month | June |
| Largest hail | 4.50 in · Jun 2000 |
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 KARX
- Cedar Rapids, IA 130 mi south
- Minneapolis, MN 130 mi northwest
- Davenport, IA 162 mi south-southeast
Nearby radars
- KMPX · Minneapolis, MN 137 mi
- KMKX · Milwaukee/Sullivan, WI 145 mi
- KDVN · Quad Cities, IA 156 mi
- KGRB · Green Bay, WI 160 mi
- KDMX · Des Moines, IA 193 mi
KARX radar FAQ
How often does KARX 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 KARX?
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 KARX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KMPX, KMKX, KDVN).