KDVN radar — Quad Cities, IA
KDVN is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Quad Cities area, operated with the NWS office DVN. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KDVN (Quad Cities, Iowa) |
|---|---|
| Location | 41.6120°, -90.5810° · Scott County |
| Elevation | 850 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 KDVN see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KDVN, 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 KDVN | 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 KDVN's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 680 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KDVN radar, 139 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in May and April. The strongest was an F4 on April 11, 1965, which passed about 24 miles northwest of the radar and caused 1 death. The most recent was an EF1 on July 11, 2025, which passed about 52 miles northwest of the radar.
Hail: 1,469 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KDVN radar since 1955, 144 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 7.00-inch hail (grapefruit size) on September 27, 1959.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 680 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 139 |
| Strongest tornado | F4 · Apr 1965 |
| Busiest tornado month | May |
| Largest hail | 7.00 in · Sep 1959 |
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 KDVN
- Davenport, IA 6 mi south
- Cedar Rapids, IA 61 mi west-northwest
- Peoria, IL 82 mi southeast
- Springfield, IL 136 mi south-southeast
- Chicago, IL 153 mi east
- Des Moines, IA 157 mi west
Nearby radars
- KILX · Lincoln, IL 120 mi
- KLOT · Chicago, IL 129 mi
- KMKX · Milwaukee/Sullivan, WI 140 mi
- KARX · La Crosse, WI 156 mi
- KDMX · Des Moines, IA 162 mi
KDVN radar FAQ
How often does KDVN 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 KDVN?
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 KDVN down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KILX, KLOT, KMKX).