KFTG radar — Denver/Boulder, CO
KFTG is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Denver/Boulder area, operated with the NWS office BOU. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KFTG (Denver/Boulder, Colorado) |
|---|---|
| Location | 39.7866°, -104.5459° · Adams County |
| Elevation | 5,503 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 KFTG see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KFTG, 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 KFTG | 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 KFTG's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 928 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KFTG radar, 60 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in June and July. The strongest was an EF3 on May 22, 2008, which passed about 33 miles north-northwest of the radar and caused 1 death. The most recent was a tornado of unknown strength on August 10, 2025, which touched down about 23 miles east-southeast of the radar.
Hail: 3,988 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KFTG radar since 1955, 399 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 4.50-inch hail (grapefruit size) on July 13, 2011.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 928 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 60 |
| Strongest tornado | EF3 · May 2008 |
| Busiest tornado month | June |
| Largest hail | 4.50 in · Jul 2011 |
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 KFTG
- Denver, CO 24 mi west
- Colorado Springs, CO 67 mi south-southwest
Nearby radars
- KPUX · Pueblo, CO 94 mi
- KCYS · Cheyenne, WY 95 mi
- KGLD · Goodland, KS 154 mi
- KGJX · Grand Junction, CO 202 mi
- KLNX · North Platte, NE 256 mi
KFTG radar FAQ
How often does KFTG 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 KFTG?
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 KFTG down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KPUX, KCYS, KGLD).