KCBX radar — Boise, ID
KCBX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Boise area, operated with the NWS office BOI. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KCBX (Boise, Idaho) |
|---|---|
| Location | 43.4900°, -116.2360° · Owyhee County |
| Elevation | 3,169 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 KCBX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KCBX, 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 KCBX | 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 KCBX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 41 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KCBX radar, all of them weak (EF0–EF1). They have been most common in August and June. The strongest was an F1 on August 25, 1966, which passed about 46 miles west-northwest of the radar. The most recent was an EF0 on July 25, 2024, which touched down about 60 miles southeast of the radar.
Hail: 98 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KCBX radar since 1955, 3 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 2.00-inch hail (hen egg size) on May 25, 2018.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 41 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 0 |
| Strongest tornado | F1 · Aug 1966 |
| Busiest tornado month | August |
| Largest hail | 2.00 in · May 2018 |
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
- KSFX · Pocatello, ID 180 mi
- KLRX · Elko, NV 192 mi
- KPDT · Pendleton, OR 199 mi
- KMTX · Salt Lake City, UT 247 mi
- KMSX · Missoula, MT 269 mi
KCBX radar FAQ
How often does KCBX 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 KCBX?
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 KCBX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KSFX, KLRX, KPDT).