KLOT radar — Chicago, IL
KLOT is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Chicago area, operated with the NWS office LOT. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KLOT (Chicago, Illinois) |
|---|---|
| Location | 41.6040°, -88.0850° · Will County |
| Elevation | 758 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 KLOT see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KLOT, 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 KLOT | 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 KLOT's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 648 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KLOT radar, 119 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in June and July. The strongest was an F5 on August 28, 1990, which passed about 5 miles southwest of the radar and caused 29 deaths. The most recent was an EF1 on December 28, 2025, which touched down about 57 miles south-southwest of the radar.
Hail: 1,783 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KLOT radar since 1955, 126 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 6.00-inch hail (grapefruit size) on April 23, 1961.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 648 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 119 |
| Strongest tornado | F5 · Aug 1990 |
| Busiest tornado month | June |
| Largest hail | 6.00 in · Apr 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 KLOT
- Chicago, IL 30 mi northeast
- Peoria, IL 100 mi southwest
- Davenport, IA 129 mi west
- Springfield, IL 150 mi south-southwest
- Indianapolis, IN 162 mi southeast
- Cedar Rapids, IA 186 mi west
Nearby radars
- KMKX · Milwaukee/Sullivan, WI 97 mi
- KILX · Lincoln, IL 120 mi
- KIWX · Fort Wayne, IN 125 mi
- KDVN · Quad Cities, IA 129 mi
- KGRR · Grand Rapids, MI 158 mi
KLOT radar FAQ
How often does KLOT 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 KLOT?
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 KLOT down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KMKX, KILX, KIWX).