KMSX radar — Missoula, MT
KMSX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Missoula area, operated with the NWS office MSO. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KMSX (Missoula, Montana) |
|---|---|
| Location | 47.0410°, -113.9860° · Missoula County |
| Elevation | 7,976 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 KMSX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KMSX, 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 KMSX | 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 KMSX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 10 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KMSX radar, all of them weak (EF0–EF1). They have been most common in August and May. The strongest was an F0 on August 11, 1988, which touched down about 57 miles southeast of the radar. The most recent was an EF0 on May 9, 2023, which touched down about 22 miles north of the radar.
Hail: 181 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KMSX radar since 1955, 15 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 2.75-inch hail (baseball size) on June 28, 1988.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 10 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 0 |
| Strongest tornado | F0 · Aug 1988 |
| Busiest tornado month | August |
| Largest hail | 2.75 in · Jun 1988 |
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.
Nearby radars
- KTFX · Great Falls, MT 125 mi
- KOTX · Spokane, WA 176 mi
- KPDT · Pendleton, OR 250 mi
- KCBX · Boise, ID 269 mi
- KBLX · Billings, MT 269 mi
KMSX radar FAQ
How often does KMSX 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 KMSX?
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 KMSX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KTFX, KOTX, KPDT).