KLCH radar — Lake Charles, LA
KLCH is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Lake Charles area, operated with the NWS office LCH. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KLCH (Lake Charles, Louisiana) |
|---|---|
| Location | 30.1250°, -93.2160° |
| Elevation | 135 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 KLCH see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KLCH, 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 KLCH | 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 KLCH's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 602 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KLCH radar, 107 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in May and October. The strongest was an F4 on November 7, 1957, which passed about 31 miles west of the radar and caused 1 death. The most recent was an EF0 on October 25, 2025, which touched down about 9 miles northwest of the radar.
Hail: 520 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KLCH radar since 1955, 39 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 4.25-inch hail (softball size) on April 7, 2003.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 602 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 107 |
| Strongest tornado | F4 · Nov 1957 |
| Busiest tornado month | May |
| Largest hail | 4.25 in · Apr 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 KLCH
- Lafayette, LA 72 mi east
- Baton Rouge, LA 123 mi east
- Houston, TX 131 mi west
- Shreveport, LA 169 mi north
Nearby radars
- KPOE · Fort Polk, LA 73 mi
- KHGX · Houston, TX 120 mi
- KSHV · Shreveport, LA 165 mi
- KHDC · Hammond, LA 170 mi
- KLIX · New Orleans, LA 203 mi
KLCH radar FAQ
How often does KLCH 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 KLCH?
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 KLCH down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KPOE, KHGX, KSHV).