KGGW radar — Glasgow, MT
KGGW is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Glasgow area, operated with the NWS office GGW. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KGGW (Glasgow, Montana) |
|---|---|
| Location | 48.2060°, -106.6250° · Valley County |
| Elevation | 2,382 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 KGGW see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KGGW, 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 KGGW | 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 KGGW's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 69 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KGGW radar, 7 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in July and June. The strongest was an F2 on August 4, 1962, which passed about 35 miles north of the radar. The most recent was an EF0 on July 12, 2024, which touched down about 32 miles north-northeast of the radar.
Hail: 597 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KGGW radar since 1955, 83 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 4.50-inch hail (grapefruit size) on July 20, 2001.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 69 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 7 |
| Strongest tornado | F2 · Aug 1962 |
| Busiest tornado month | July |
| Largest hail | 4.50 in · Jul 2001 |
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
- KBLX · Billings, MT 187 mi
- KTFX · Great Falls, MT 227 mi
- KMBX · Minot AFB, ND 265 mi
- KBIS · Bismarck, ND 291 mi
- KUDX · Rapid City, SD 335 mi
KGGW radar FAQ
How often does KGGW 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 KGGW?
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 KGGW down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KBLX, KTFX, KMBX).