KFSD radar — Sioux Falls, SD
KFSD is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Sioux Falls area, operated with the NWS office FSD. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KFSD (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) |
|---|---|
| Location | 43.5880°, -96.7290° · Minnehaha County |
| Elevation | 1,493 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 KFSD see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KFSD, 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 KFSD | 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 KFSD's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 640 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KFSD radar, 132 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in June and May. The strongest was an F5 on June 16, 1992, which passed about 38 miles east-northeast of the radar and caused 1 death. The most recent was an EF0 on July 28, 2025, which passed about 26 miles south-southwest of the radar.
Hail: 2,052 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KFSD radar since 1955, 225 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 6.00-inch hail (grapefruit size) on July 28, 1986.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 640 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 132 |
| Strongest tornado | F5 · Jun 1992 |
| Busiest tornado month | June |
| Largest hail | 6.00 in · Jul 1986 |
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 KFSD
- Sioux Falls, SD 3 mi south
- Omaha, NE 166 mi south-southeast
Nearby radars
- KABR · Aberdeen, SD 153 mi
- KOAX · Omaha, NE 158 mi
- KMPX · Minneapolis, MN 179 mi
- KDMX · Des Moines, IA 199 mi
- KLNX · North Platte, NE 225 mi
KFSD radar FAQ
How often does KFSD 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 KFSD?
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 KFSD down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KABR, KOAX, KMPX).