KPBZ radar — Pittsburgh, PA
KPBZ is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Pittsburgh area, operated with the NWS office PBZ. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KPBZ (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) |
|---|---|
| Location | 40.5320°, -80.2180° · Allegheny County |
| Elevation | 1,263 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 KPBZ see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KPBZ, 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 KPBZ | 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 KPBZ's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 301 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KPBZ radar, 66 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in June and July. The strongest was an F5 on May 31, 1985, which passed about 48 miles north of the radar and caused 18 deaths. The most recent was an EF0 on May 21, 2025, which touched down about 31 miles north-northeast of the radar.
Hail: 1,389 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KPBZ radar since 1955, 73 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 4.50-inch hail (grapefruit size) on July 26, 1956.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 301 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 66 |
| Strongest tornado | F5 · May 1985 |
| Busiest tornado month | June |
| Largest hail | 4.50 in · Jul 1956 |
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 KPBZ
- Columbus, OH 152 mi west-southwest
Nearby radars
- KCLE · Cleveland, OH 105 mi
- KCCX · State College, PA 119 mi
- KRLX · Charleston, WV 173 mi
- KLWX · Sterling, MD 181 mi
- KBUF · Buffalo, NY 184 mi
KPBZ radar FAQ
How often does KPBZ 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 KPBZ?
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 KPBZ down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KCLE, KCCX, KRLX).