KFWS radar — Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
KFWS is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Dallas/Fort Worth area, operated with the NWS office FWD. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KFWS (Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas) |
|---|---|
| Location | 32.5730°, -97.3030° · Tarrant County |
| Elevation | 774 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 KFWS see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KFWS, 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 KFWS | 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 KFWS's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 854 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KFWS radar, 196 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in April and May. The strongest was an F5 on May 6, 1973, which passed about 58 miles south of the radar. The most recent was a tornado of unknown strength on August 28, 2025, which touched down about 49 miles north-northeast of the radar.
Hail: 4,696 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KFWS radar since 1955, 800 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 5.90-inch hail (grapefruit size) on June 15, 2023.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 854 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 196 |
| Strongest tornado | F5 · May 1973 |
| Busiest tornado month | April |
| Largest hail | 5.90 in · Jun 2023 |
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 KFWS
- Fort Worth, TX 13 mi north
- Arlington, TX 16 mi northeast
- Irving, TX 26 mi northeast
- Dallas, TX 33 mi east-northeast
- Garland, TX 45 mi east-northeast
- Denton, TX 45 mi north-northeast
- Plano, TX 47 mi northeast
- Frisco, TX 49 mi northeast
- McKinney, TX 58 mi northeast
- Waco, TX 71 mi south
- Wichita Falls, TX 115 mi northwest
- Abilene, TX 142 mi west
Nearby radars
- KDYX · Dyess AFB, TX 114 mi
- KGRK · Central Texas, TX 128 mi
- KFDR · Frederick, OK 157 mi
- KTLX · Oklahoma City, OK 191 mi
- KSHV · Shreveport, LA 202 mi
KFWS radar FAQ
How often does KFWS 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 KFWS?
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 KFWS down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KDYX, KGRK, KFDR).