KENX radar — Albany, NY
KENX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Albany area, operated with the NWS office ALY. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KENX (Albany, New York) |
|---|---|
| Location | 42.5860°, -74.0640° · Albany County |
| Elevation | 1,932 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 KENX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KENX, 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 KENX | 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 KENX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 153 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KENX radar, 29 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in July and May. The strongest was an F4 on August 28, 1973, which passed about 35 miles east-southeast of the radar and caused 4 deaths. The most recent was an EF0 on September 25, 2025, which passed about 54 miles southwest of the radar.
Hail: 915 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KENX radar since 1955, 66 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 4.00-inch hail (softball size) on May 22, 2014.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 153 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 29 |
| Strongest tornado | F4 · Aug 1973 |
| Busiest tornado month | July |
| Largest hail | 4.00 in · May 2014 |
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.
Nearby radars
- KBGM · Binghamton, NY 102 mi
- KTYX · Montague, NY 115 mi
- KOKX · Upton, NY 134 mi
- KCXX · Burlington, VT 140 mi
- KBOX · Boston, MA 156 mi
KENX radar FAQ
How often does KENX 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 KENX?
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 KENX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KBGM, KTYX, KOKX).