KCBW radar — Caribou, ME
KCBW is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Caribou area, operated with the NWS office CAR. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KCBW (Caribou, Maine) |
|---|---|
| Location | 46.0390°, -67.8060° · Aroostook County |
| Elevation | 856 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 KCBW see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KCBW, 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 KCBW | 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 KCBW's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 26 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KCBW radar, 5 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in July and June. The strongest was an F2 on July 7, 1954, which passed about 60 miles south-southeast of the radar. The most recent was an EF1 on August 12, 2019, which touched down about 44 miles south of the radar.
Hail: 132 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KCBW radar since 1955, 4 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 4.00-inch hail (softball size) on August 27, 1961.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 26 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 5 |
| Strongest tornado | F2 · Jul 1954 |
| Busiest tornado month | July |
| Largest hail | 4.00 in · Aug 1961 |
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
- KGYX · Portland, ME 191 mi
- KCXX · Burlington, VT 281 mi
- KBOX · Boston, MA 327 mi
- KENX · Albany, NY 390 mi
- KTYX · Montague, NY 416 mi
KCBW radar FAQ
How often does KCBW 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 KCBW?
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 KCBW down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KGYX, KCXX, KBOX).