KOAX radar — Omaha, NE
KOAX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Omaha area, operated with the NWS office OAX. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KOAX (Omaha, Nebraska) |
|---|---|
| Location | 41.3200°, -96.3670° · Saunders County |
| Elevation | 1,260 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 KOAX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KOAX, 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 KOAX | 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 KOAX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 653 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KOAX radar, 133 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in June and May. The strongest was an F5 on May 5, 1964, which passed about 47 miles west of the radar and caused 4 deaths. The most recent was an EF0 on August 10, 2025, which touched down about 53 miles south-southeast of the radar.
Hail: 2,948 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KOAX radar since 1955, 412 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 5.00-inch hail (grapefruit size) on May 9, 2016.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 653 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 133 |
| Strongest tornado | F5 · May 1964 |
| Busiest tornado month | June |
| Largest hail | 5.00 in · May 2016 |
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 KOAX
- Omaha, NE 23 mi east
- Lincoln, NE 39 mi south-southwest
- Grand Island, NE 106 mi west-southwest
- Des Moines, IA 143 mi east
- Sioux Falls, SD 155 mi north
- Topeka, KS 161 mi south-southeast
- Kansas City, KS 178 mi south-southeast
- Kansas City, MO 180 mi south-southeast
- Salina, KS 184 mi south-southwest
- Overland Park, KS 185 mi south-southeast
Nearby radars
- KUEX · Hastings, NE 129 mi
- KDMX · Des Moines, IA 140 mi
- KFSD · Sioux Falls, SD 158 mi
- KTWX · Topeka, KS 161 mi
- KEAX · Kansas City, MO 206 mi
KOAX radar FAQ
How often does KOAX 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 KOAX?
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 KOAX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KUEX, KDMX, KFSD).