KMOB radar — Mobile, AL
KMOB is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Mobile area, operated with the NWS office MOB. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KMOB (Mobile, Alabama) |
|---|---|
| Location | 30.6790°, -88.2400° · Mobile County |
| Elevation | 289 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 KMOB see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KMOB, 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 KMOB | 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 KMOB's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 557 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KMOB radar, 91 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in April and March. The strongest was an EF3 on April 15, 2011, which passed about 37 miles north-northwest of the radar and caused 4 deaths. The most recent was an EF1 on October 26, 2025, which passed about 23 miles west-southwest of the radar.
Hail: 510 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KMOB radar since 1955, 40 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 4.00-inch hail (softball size) on April 10, 2021.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 557 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 91 |
| Strongest tornado | EF3 · Apr 2011 |
| Busiest tornado month | April |
| Largest hail | 4.00 in · Apr 2021 |
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 KMOB
- Mobile, AL 12 mi east
- New Orleans, LA 120 mi west-southwest
- Jackson, MS 160 mi northwest
- Montgomery, AL 164 mi northeast
- Baton Rouge, LA 176 mi west
- Tuscaloosa, AL 179 mi north-northeast
Nearby radars
- KLIX · New Orleans, LA 97 mi
- KHDC · Hammond, LA 129 mi
- KEVX · Eglin AFB, FL 138 mi
- KDGX · Jackson, MS 151 mi
- KEOX · Fort Rucker, AL 173 mi
KMOB radar FAQ
How often does KMOB 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 KMOB?
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 KMOB down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KLIX, KHDC, KEVX).