KILX radar — Lincoln, IL
KILX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Lincoln area, operated with the NWS office ILX. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KILX (Lincoln, Illinois) |
|---|---|
| Location | 40.1500°, -89.3370° · Logan County |
| Elevation | 728 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 KILX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KILX, 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 KILX | 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 KILX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 877 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KILX radar, 155 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in May and June. The strongest was an EF4 on November 17, 2013, which passed about 35 miles north-northwest of the radar and caused 3 deaths. The most recent was an EF1 on December 28, 2025, which touched down about 30 miles north-northwest of the radar.
Hail: 1,513 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KILX radar since 1955, 147 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 4.50-inch hail (grapefruit size) on May 9, 2003.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 877 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 155 |
| Strongest tornado | EF4 · Nov 2013 |
| Busiest tornado month | May |
| 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 KILX
- Springfield, IL 30 mi south-southwest
- Peoria, IL 40 mi north-northwest
- St. Louis, MO 115 mi south-southwest
- Davenport, IA 115 mi northwest
- Chicago, IL 149 mi northeast
- Indianapolis, IN 170 mi east
- Cedar Rapids, IA 175 mi northwest
- Evansville, IN 178 mi south-southeast
- Columbia, MO 180 mi west-southwest
Nearby radars
- KLOT · Chicago, IL 120 mi
- KDVN · Quad Cities, IA 120 mi
- KLSX · St. Louis, MO 123 mi
- KVWX · Evansville, IN 157 mi
- KIND · Indianapolis, IN 165 mi
KILX radar FAQ
How often does KILX 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 KILX?
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 KILX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KLOT, KDVN, KLSX).