KGYX radar — Portland, ME
KGYX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Portland area, operated with the NWS office GYX. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KGYX (Portland, Maine) |
|---|---|
| Location | 43.8910°, -70.2560° · Cumberland County |
| Elevation | 472 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 KGYX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KGYX, 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 KGYX | 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 KGYX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 80 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KGYX radar, 9 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in July and August. The strongest was an EF2 on July 24, 2008, which passed about 37 miles west of the radar and caused 1 death. The most recent was an EF0 on August 22, 2020, which touched down about 55 miles west-southwest of the radar.
Hail: 434 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KGYX radar since 1955, 16 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 4.00-inch hail (softball size) on June 1, 1986.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 80 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 9 |
| Strongest tornado | EF2 · Jul 2008 |
| Busiest tornado month | July |
| Largest hail | 4.00 in · Jun 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.
Nearby radars
- KBOX · Boston, MA 141 mi
- KCXX · Burlington, VT 150 mi
- KCBW · Caribou, ME 191 mi
- KENX · Albany, NY 212 mi
- KOKX · Upton, NY 248 mi
KGYX radar FAQ
How often does KGYX 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 KGYX?
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 KGYX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KBOX, KCXX, KCBW).