KBHX radar — Eureka, CA
KBHX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Eureka area, operated with the NWS office EKA. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KBHX (Eureka, California) |
|---|---|
| Location | 40.4990°, -124.2920° · Humboldt County |
| Elevation | 2,513 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 KBHX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KBHX, 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 KBHX | 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 KBHX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 3 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KBHX radar, 1 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in March. The strongest was an F2 on March 29, 1958, which touched down about 33 miles north-northeast of the radar. The most recent was a tornado of unknown strength on February 27, 2023, which touched down about 39 miles south-southeast of the radar.
Hail: 12 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KBHX radar since 1955. The largest was 1.50-inch hail (ping pong ball size) on August 22, 2013.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 3 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 1 |
| Strongest tornado | F2 · Mar 1958 |
| Busiest tornado month | March |
| Largest hail | 1.50 in · Aug 2013 |
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
- KMAX · Medford, OR 136 mi
- KBBX · Beale AFB, CA 157 mi
- KDAX · Sacramento, CA 196 mi
- KRGX · Reno, NV 260 mi
- KMUX · San Francisco, CA 265 mi
KBHX radar FAQ
How often does KBHX 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 KBHX?
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 KBHX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KMAX, KBBX, KDAX).