KDLH radar — Duluth, MN
KDLH is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Duluth area, operated with the NWS office DLH. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KDLH (Duluth, Minnesota) |
|---|---|
| Location | 46.8370°, -92.2100° · St Louis County |
| Elevation | 1,542 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 KDLH see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KDLH, 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 KDLH | 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 KDLH's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 63 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KDLH radar, 12 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in June and August. The strongest was an F4 on June 11, 1966, which passed about 29 miles west of the radar. The most recent was an EF1 on September 19, 2024, which passed about 22 miles northwest of the radar.
Hail: 567 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KDLH radar since 1955, 64 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 4.00-inch hail (softball size) on July 16, 2006.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 63 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 12 |
| Strongest tornado | F4 · Jun 1966 |
| Busiest tornado month | June |
| Largest hail | 4.00 in · Jul 2006 |
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 KDLH
- Minneapolis, MN 138 mi south-southwest
Nearby radars
- KMPX · Minneapolis, MN 152 mi
- KARX · La Crosse, WI 214 mi
- KMQT · Marquette, MI 222 mi
- KMVX · Grand Forks, ND 245 mi
- KGRB · Green Bay, WI 255 mi
KDLH radar FAQ
How often does KDLH 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 KDLH?
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 KDLH down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KMPX, KARX, KMQT).