KBIS radar — Bismarck, ND
KBIS is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Bismarck area, operated with the NWS office BIS. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KBIS (Bismarck, North Dakota) |
|---|---|
| Location | 46.7710°, -100.7600° · Burleigh County |
| Elevation | 1,752 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 KBIS see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KBIS, 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 KBIS | 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 KBIS's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 277 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KBIS radar, 31 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in June and July. The strongest was an F5 on May 29, 1953, which passed about 17 miles southeast of the radar and caused 2 deaths. The most recent was a tornado of unknown strength on September 14, 2025, which touched down about 51 miles south of the radar.
Hail: 1,158 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KBIS radar since 1955, 170 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 5.00-inch hail (grapefruit size) on July 13, 2010.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 277 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 31 |
| Strongest tornado | F5 · May 1953 |
| Busiest tornado month | June |
| Largest hail | 5.00 in · Jul 2010 |
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
- KMBX · Minot AFB, ND 112 mi
- KABR · Aberdeen, SD 145 mi
- KMVX · Grand Forks, ND 170 mi
- KUDX · Rapid City, SD 209 mi
- KGGW · Glasgow, MT 291 mi
KBIS radar FAQ
How often does KBIS 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 KBIS?
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 KBIS down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KMBX, KABR, KMVX).