KHNX radar — San Joaquin Valley, CA
KHNX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the San Joaquin Valley area, operated with the NWS office HNX. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KHNX (San Joaquin Valley, California) |
|---|---|
| Location | 36.3140°, -119.6320° · Kings County |
| Elevation | 338 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 KHNX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KHNX, 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 KHNX | 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 KHNX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 60 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KHNX radar, 2 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in March and February. The strongest was an F2 on April 5, 1980, which passed about 2 miles north-northeast of the radar. The most recent was an EF0 on March 1, 2024, which touched down about 54 miles north-northwest of the radar.
Hail: 48 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KHNX radar since 1955, 2 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 2.50-inch hail (tennis ball size) on November 22, 1996.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 60 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 2 |
| Strongest tornado | F2 · Apr 1980 |
| Busiest tornado month | March |
| Largest hail | 2.50 in · Nov 1996 |
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
- KVBX · Vandenberg AFB, CA 111 mi
- KVTX · Los Angeles, CA 134 mi
- KMUX · San Francisco, CA 138 mi
- KEYX · Edwards AFB, CA 143 mi
- KDAX · Sacramento, CA 188 mi
KHNX radar FAQ
How often does KHNX 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 KHNX?
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 KHNX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KVBX, KVTX, KMUX).