KESX radar — Las Vegas, NV
KESX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Las Vegas area, operated with the NWS office VEF. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KESX (Las Vegas, Nevada) |
|---|---|
| Location | 35.7010°, -114.8910° · San Bernardino County |
| Elevation | 4,948 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 KESX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KESX, 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 KESX | 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 KESX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 19 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KESX radar, all of them weak (EF0–EF1). They have been most common in August and November. The strongest was an F1 on September 18, 1972, which touched down about 50 miles south-southeast of the radar. The most recent was an EF0 on July 27, 2016, which touched down about 60 miles east-southeast of the radar.
Hail: 64 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KESX radar since 1955, 1 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 2.00-inch hail (hen egg size) on June 30, 2016.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 19 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 0 |
| Strongest tornado | F1 · Sep 1972 |
| Busiest tornado month | August |
| Largest hail | 2.00 in · Jun 2016 |
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
- KEYX · Edwards AFB, CA 156 mi
- KICX · Cedar City, UT 172 mi
- KSOX · Santa Ana Mountains, CA 203 mi
- KYUX · Yuma, AZ 222 mi
- KFSX · Flagstaff, AZ 223 mi
KESX radar FAQ
How often does KESX 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 KESX?
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 KESX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KEYX, KICX, KSOX).