KHTX radar — Huntsville, AL
KHTX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Huntsville area, operated with the NWS office HUN. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KHTX (Huntsville, Alabama) |
|---|---|
| Location | 34.9310°, -86.0840° · Jackson County |
| Elevation | 1,857 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 KHTX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KHTX, 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 KHTX | 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 KHTX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 665 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KHTX radar, 198 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in April and May. The strongest was an EF5 on April 27, 2011, which passed about 11 miles north-northwest of the radar and caused 72 deaths. The most recent was an EF0 on August 20, 2025, which touched down about 9 miles northeast of the radar.
Hail: 1,455 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KHTX radar since 1955, 131 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 4.50-inch hail (grapefruit size) on May 2, 2003.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 665 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 198 |
| Strongest tornado | EF5 · Apr 2011 |
| Busiest tornado month | April |
| Largest hail | 4.50 in · May 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 KHTX
- Huntsville, AL 32 mi west-southwest
- Chattanooga, TN 45 mi east
- Nashville, TN 94 mi north-northwest
- Birmingham, AL 106 mi south-southwest
- Atlanta, GA 127 mi southeast
- Knoxville, TN 141 mi east-northeast
- Tuscaloosa, AL 146 mi southwest
- Tupelo, MS 156 mi west-southwest
- Montgomery, AL 177 mi south
Nearby radars
- KOHX · Nashville, TN 95 mi
- KBMX · Birmingham, AL 128 mi
- KFFC · Atlanta, GA 139 mi
- KHPX · Fort Campbell, KY 142 mi
- KGWX · Columbus AFB, MS 147 mi
KHTX radar FAQ
How often does KHTX 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 KHTX?
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 KHTX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KOHX, KBMX, KFFC).