KJAX radar — Jacksonville, FL
KJAX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Jacksonville area, operated with the NWS office JAX. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KJAX (Jacksonville, Florida) |
|---|---|
| Location | 30.4850°, -81.7020° · Duval County |
| Elevation | 157 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 KJAX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KJAX, 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 KJAX | 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 KJAX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 340 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KJAX radar, 35 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in June and September. The strongest was an F3 on April 15, 1958, which passed about 49 miles south-southeast of the radar. The most recent was an EF0 on May 29, 2025, which touched down about 30 miles south-southeast of the radar.
Hail: 520 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KJAX radar since 1955, 30 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 4.50-inch hail (grapefruit size) on March 1, 2003.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 340 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 35 |
| Strongest tornado | F3 · Apr 1958 |
| Busiest tornado month | June |
| Largest hail | 4.50 in · Mar 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 KJAX
- Jacksonville, FL 11 mi south-southeast
- Orlando, FL 136 mi south
- Tampa, FL 181 mi south-southwest
Nearby radars
- KVAX · Moody AFB, GA 82 mi
- KCLX · Charleston, SC 155 mi
- KTLH · Tallahassee, FL 157 mi
- KMLB · Melbourne, FL 176 mi
- KJGX · Robins AFB, GA 180 mi
KJAX radar FAQ
How often does KJAX 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 KJAX?
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 KJAX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KVAX, KCLX, KTLH).