KNKX radar — San Diego, CA
KNKX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the San Diego area, operated with the NWS office SGX. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KNKX (San Diego, California) |
|---|---|
| Location | 32.9194°, -117.0418° · San Diego County |
| Elevation | 913 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 KNKX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KNKX, 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 KNKX | 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 KNKX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 44 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KNKX radar, all of them weak (EF0–EF1). They have been most common in February and January. The strongest was an F1 on October 8, 1961, which touched down about 25 miles northwest of the radar. The most recent was an EF0 on October 8, 2022, which touched down about 55 miles north of the radar.
Hail: 25 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KNKX radar since 1955, 1 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 2.75-inch hail (baseball size) on September 2, 1960.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 44 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 0 |
| Strongest tornado | F1 · Oct 1961 |
| Busiest tornado month | February |
| Largest hail | 2.75 in · Sep 1960 |
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
- KSOX · Santa Ana Mountains, CA 71 mi
- KYUX · Yuma, AZ 142 mi
- KEYX · Edwards AFB, CA 153 mi
- KVTX · Los Angeles, CA 160 mi
- KESX · Las Vegas, NV 228 mi
KNKX radar FAQ
How often does KNKX 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 KNKX?
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 KNKX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KSOX, KYUX, KEYX).