KIWX radar — Fort Wayne, IN
KIWX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Fort Wayne area, operated with the NWS office IWX. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KIWX (Fort Wayne, Indiana) |
|---|---|
| Location | 41.3590°, -85.7000° · Kosciusko County |
| Elevation | 1,053 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 KIWX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KIWX, 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 KIWX | 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 KIWX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 492 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KIWX radar, 129 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in June and May. The strongest was an F4 on April 11, 1965, which passed about 23 miles north-northwest of the radar and caused 36 deaths. The most recent was an EF1 on April 2, 2025, which passed about 17 miles west of the radar.
Hail: 1,197 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KIWX radar since 1955, 105 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 9.99-inch hail (grapefruit size) on May 6, 1961.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 492 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 129 |
| Strongest tornado | F4 · Apr 1965 |
| Busiest tornado month | June |
| Largest hail | 9.99 in · May 1961 |
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 KIWX
- Chicago, IL 106 mi west-northwest
- Indianapolis, IN 112 mi south-southwest
- Cincinnati, OH 168 mi south-southeast
- Columbus, OH 171 mi east-southeast
Nearby radars
- KGRR · Grand Rapids, MI 106 mi
- KIND · Indianapolis, IN 118 mi
- KLOT · Chicago, IL 125 mi
- KDTX · Detroit, MI 147 mi
- KILN · Wilmington, OH 166 mi
KIWX radar FAQ
How often does KIWX 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 KIWX?
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 KIWX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KGRR, KIND, KLOT).