KCLE radar — Cleveland, OH
KCLE is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Cleveland area, operated with the NWS office CLE. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KCLE (Cleveland, Ohio) |
|---|---|
| Location | 41.4130°, -81.8600° · Cuyahoga County |
| Elevation | 860 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 KCLE see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KCLE, 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 KCLE | 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 KCLE's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 315 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KCLE radar, 68 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in June and July. The strongest was an F5 on May 31, 1985, which passed about 40 miles east-southeast of the radar and caused 18 deaths. The most recent was an EF1 on August 13, 2025, which touched down about 36 miles southwest of the radar.
Hail: 1,116 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KCLE radar since 1955, 58 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 4.25-inch hail (softball size) on June 8, 2007.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 315 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 68 |
| Strongest tornado | F5 · May 1985 |
| Busiest tornado month | June |
| Largest hail | 4.25 in · Jun 2007 |
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 KCLE
- Columbus, OH 117 mi south-southwest
Nearby radars
- KPBZ · Pittsburgh, PA 105 mi
- KDTX · Detroit, MI 121 mi
- KILN · Wilmington, OH 172 mi
- KBUF · Buffalo, NY 192 mi
- KIWX · Fort Wayne, IN 199 mi
KCLE radar FAQ
How often does KCLE 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 KCLE?
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 KCLE down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KPBZ, KDTX, KILN).