KEPZ radar — El Paso, TX
KEPZ is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the El Paso area, operated with the NWS office EPZ. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KEPZ (El Paso, Texas) |
|---|---|
| Location | 31.8731°, -106.6980° · El Paso County |
| Elevation | 4,092 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 KEPZ see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KEPZ, 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 KEPZ | 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 KEPZ's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 24 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KEPZ radar, all of them weak (EF0–EF1). They have been most common in July and June. The strongest was an F1 on July 28, 1989, which passed about 42 miles northwest of the radar. The most recent was an EF0 on April 22, 2019, which touched down about 34 miles southeast of the radar.
Hail: 200 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KEPZ radar since 1955, 14 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 3.25-inch hail (teacup size) on October 22, 1974.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 24 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 0 |
| Strongest tornado | F1 · Jul 1989 |
| Busiest tornado month | July |
| Largest hail | 3.25 in · Oct 1974 |
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 KEPZ
- El Paso, TX 15 mi east-southeast
Nearby radars
- KHDX · Holloman AFB, NM 90 mi
- KABX · Albuquerque, NM 227 mi
- KEMX · Tucson, AZ 231 mi
- KFDX · Cannon AFB, NM 261 mi
- KMAF · Midland/Odessa, TX 264 mi
KEPZ radar FAQ
How often does KEPZ 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 KEPZ?
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 KEPZ down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KHDX, KABX, KEMX).