KBYX radar — Key West, FL
KBYX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Key West area, operated with the NWS office KEY. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KBYX (Key West, Florida) |
|---|---|
| Location | 24.5970°, -81.7030° · Monroe County |
| Elevation | 89 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 KBYX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KBYX, 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 KBYX | 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 KBYX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 53 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KBYX radar, 5 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in June and August. The strongest was an F2 on June 18, 1972, which touched down about 2 miles northeast of the radar. The most recent was an EF1 on October 8, 2024, which touched down about 7 miles west-southwest of the radar.
Hail: 6 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KBYX radar since 1955. The largest was 1.75-inch hail (golf ball size) on April 27, 2003.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 53 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 5 |
| Strongest tornado | F2 · Jun 1972 |
| Busiest tornado month | June |
| Largest hail | 1.75 in · Apr 2003 |
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 KBYX
- Miami, FL 124 mi northeast
Nearby radars
- KAMX · Miami, FL 107 mi
- KTBW · Tampa, FL 219 mi
- KMLB · Melbourne, FL 251 mi
- KJAX · Jacksonville, FL 407 mi
- KTLH · Tallahassee, FL 432 mi
KBYX radar FAQ
How often does KBYX 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 KBYX?
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 KBYX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KAMX, KTBW, KMLB).