KDMX radar — Des Moines, IA
KDMX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Des Moines area, operated with the NWS office DMX. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KDMX (Des Moines, Iowa) |
|---|---|
| Location | 41.7310°, -93.7230° · Polk County |
| Elevation | 1,093 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 KDMX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KDMX, 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 KDMX | 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 KDMX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 753 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KDMX radar, 155 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in May and June. The strongest was an F5 on June 27, 1953, which touched down about 54 miles west-southwest of the radar and caused 1 death. The most recent was a tornado of unknown strength on July 19, 2025, which passed about 26 miles north of the radar.
Hail: 2,666 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KDMX radar since 1955, 299 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 5.50-inch hail (grapefruit size) on May 22, 2004.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 753 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 155 |
| Strongest tornado | F5 · Jun 1953 |
| Busiest tornado month | May |
| Largest hail | 5.50 in · May 2004 |
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 KDMX
- Des Moines, IA 11 mi south-southeast
- Cedar Rapids, IA 107 mi east
- Omaha, NE 119 mi west-southwest
- Davenport, IA 163 mi east
- Lincoln, NE 167 mi west-southwest
Nearby radars
- KOAX · Omaha, NE 140 mi
- KDVN · Quad Cities, IA 162 mi
- KARX · La Crosse, WI 193 mi
- KFSD · Sioux Falls, SD 199 mi
- KEAX · Kansas City, MO 204 mi
KDMX radar FAQ
How often does KDMX 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 KDMX?
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 KDMX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KOAX, KDVN, KARX).