KBMX radar — Birmingham, AL
KBMX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Birmingham area, operated with the NWS office BMX. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KBMX (Birmingham, Alabama) |
|---|---|
| Location | 33.1720°, -86.7700° · Shelby County |
| Elevation | 758 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 KBMX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KBMX, 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 KBMX | 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 KBMX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 687 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KBMX radar, 211 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in April and March. The strongest was an F5 on March 3, 1966, which passed about 40 miles west-northwest of the radar and caused 58 deaths. The most recent was an EF1 on November 25, 2025, which passed about 36 miles north-northwest of the radar.
Hail: 1,180 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KBMX radar since 1955, 109 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 4.50-inch hail (grapefruit size) on May 9, 2024.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 687 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 211 |
| Strongest tornado | F5 · Mar 1966 |
| Busiest tornado month | April |
| Largest hail | 4.50 in · May 2024 |
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 KBMX
- Birmingham, AL 24 mi north
- Tuscaloosa, AL 46 mi west
- Montgomery, AL 61 mi south-southeast
- Huntsville, AL 108 mi north
- Tupelo, MS 134 mi northwest
- Atlanta, GA 143 mi east-northeast
- Chattanooga, TN 154 mi north-northeast
Nearby radars
- KMXX · Maxwell AFB, AL 72 mi
- KGWX · Columbus AFB, MS 103 mi
- KHTX · Huntsville, AL 128 mi
- KFFC · Atlanta, GA 128 mi
- KEOX · Fort Rucker, AL 141 mi
KBMX radar FAQ
How often does KBMX 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 KBMX?
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 KBMX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KMXX, KGWX, KHTX).