KDDC radar — Dodge City, KS
KDDC is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Dodge City area, operated with the NWS office DDC. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KDDC (Dodge City, Kansas) |
|---|---|
| Location | 37.7610°, -99.9690° · Ford County |
| Elevation | 2,671 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 KDDC see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KDDC, 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 KDDC | 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 KDDC's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 697 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KDDC radar, 119 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in May and June. The strongest was an EF5 on May 4, 2007, which passed about 36 miles east-southeast of the radar and caused 11 deaths. The most recent was a tornado of unknown strength on September 8, 2025, which touched down about 58 miles south of the radar.
Hail: 3,667 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KDDC radar since 1955, 534 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 5.50-inch hail (grapefruit size) on May 26, 1996.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 697 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 119 |
| Strongest tornado | EF5 · May 2007 |
| Busiest tornado month | May |
| Largest hail | 5.50 in · May 1996 |
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 KDDC
- Hutchinson, KS 113 mi east
- Wichita, KS 144 mi east
- Salina, KS 148 mi east-northeast
- Enid, OK 149 mi southeast
Nearby radars
- KVNX · Vance AFB, OK 123 mi
- KICT · Wichita, KS 138 mi
- KGLD · Goodland, KS 145 mi
- KUEX · Hastings, NE 195 mi
- KAMA · Amarillo, TX 200 mi
KDDC radar FAQ
How often does KDDC 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 KDDC?
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 KDDC down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KVNX, KICT, KGLD).