KHDC radar — Hammond, LA
KHDC is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Hammond area, operated with the NWS office LIX. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KHDC (Hammond, Louisiana) |
|---|---|
| Location | 30.5190°, -90.4070° |
| Elevation | 39 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 KHDC see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KHDC, 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 KHDC | 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 KHDC's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 743 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KHDC radar, 134 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in April and May. The strongest was an F4 on January 10, 1975, which passed about 46 miles north of the radar and caused 9 deaths. The most recent was an EF0 on October 26, 2025, which touched down about 21 miles southwest of the radar.
Hail: 802 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KHDC radar since 1955, 44 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 4.00-inch hail (softball size) on April 7, 2003.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 743 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 134 |
| Strongest tornado | F4 · Jan 1975 |
| Busiest tornado month | April |
| Largest hail | 4.00 in · Apr 2003 |
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 KHDC
- New Orleans, LA 44 mi south-southeast
- Baton Rouge, LA 47 mi west
- Lafayette, LA 98 mi west-southwest
- Jackson, MS 124 mi north
- Mobile, AL 141 mi east
Nearby radars
- KLIX · New Orleans, LA 37 mi
- KDGX · Jackson, MS 124 mi
- KMOB · Mobile, AL 129 mi
- KPOE · Fort Polk, LA 159 mi
- KLCH · Lake Charles, LA 170 mi
KHDC radar FAQ
How often does KHDC 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 KHDC?
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 KHDC down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KLIX, KDGX, KMOB).