KGRK radar — Central Texas, TX
KGRK is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Central Texas area, operated with the NWS office EWX. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KGRK (Central Texas, Texas) |
|---|---|
| Location | 30.7220°, -97.3830° · Williamson County |
| Elevation | 600 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 KGRK see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KGRK, 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 KGRK | 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 KGRK's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 469 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KGRK radar, 105 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in May and April. The strongest was an F5 on May 11, 1953, which passed about 59 miles north-northeast of the radar and caused 114 deaths. The most recent was an EF0 on May 6, 2025, which passed about 27 miles east-northeast of the radar.
Hail: 2,050 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KGRK radar since 1955, 339 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 5.68-inch hail (grapefruit size) on April 12, 2022.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 469 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 105 |
| Strongest tornado | F5 · May 1953 |
| Busiest tornado month | May |
| Largest hail | 5.68 in · Apr 2022 |
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 KGRK
- Austin, TX 38 mi southwest
- Waco, TX 59 mi north-northeast
- San Antonio, TX 112 mi southwest
- Houston, TX 137 mi east-southeast
- Arlington, TX 140 mi north
- Fort Worth, TX 141 mi north
- Dallas, TX 146 mi north-northeast
- Irving, TX 147 mi north
- Garland, TX 158 mi north-northeast
- Plano, TX 164 mi north-northeast
- Frisco, TX 171 mi north
- Denton, TX 173 mi north
Nearby radars
- KEWX · San Antonio, TX 80 mi
- KFWS · Dallas/Fort Worth, TX 128 mi
- KHGX · Houston, TX 163 mi
- KDYX · Dyess AFB, TX 167 mi
- KSJT · San Angelo, TX 189 mi
KGRK radar FAQ
How often does KGRK 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 KGRK?
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 KGRK down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KEWX, KFWS, KHGX).