KLZK radar — Little Rock, AR
KLZK is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Little Rock area, operated with the NWS office LZK. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KLZK (Little Rock, Arkansas) |
|---|---|
| Location | 34.8360°, -92.2620° · Pulaski County |
| Elevation | 646 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 KLZK see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KLZK, 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 KLZK | 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 KLZK's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 621 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KLZK radar, 229 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in April and May. The strongest was an F4 on March 21, 1952, which passed about 41 miles northeast of the radar and caused 50 deaths. The most recent was an EF0 on June 12, 2025, which touched down about 10 miles northeast of the radar.
Hail: 1,967 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KLZK radar since 1955, 193 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 5.00-inch hail (grapefruit size) on April 2, 2006.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 621 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 229 |
| Strongest tornado | F4 · Mar 1952 |
| Busiest tornado month | April |
| Largest hail | 5.00 in · Apr 2006 |
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 KLZK
- Little Rock, AR 6 mi south-southwest
- Fort Smith, AR 127 mi west-northwest
- Memphis, TN 127 mi east
- Fayetteville, AR 138 mi northwest
- Springfield, MO 174 mi north-northwest
- Shreveport, LA 181 mi south-southwest
Nearby radars
- KSRX · Fort Smith, AR 123 mi
- KNQA · Memphis, TN 140 mi
- KSGF · Springfield, MO 178 mi
- KSHV · Shreveport, LA 188 mi
- KINX · Tulsa, OK 207 mi
KLZK radar FAQ
How often does KLZK 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 KLZK?
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 KLZK down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KSRX, KNQA, KSGF).