KRIW radar — Riverton, WY
KRIW is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Riverton area, operated with the NWS office RIW. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KRIW (Riverton, Wyoming) |
|---|---|
| Location | 43.0660°, -108.4770° · Fremont County |
| Elevation | 5,630 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 KRIW see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KRIW, 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 KRIW | 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 KRIW's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 26 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KRIW radar, 5 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in June and August. The strongest was an F3 on June 16, 1962, which touched down about 16 miles southwest of the radar. The most recent was an EF0 on September 9, 2024, which touched down about 42 miles north-northeast of the radar.
Hail: 116 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KRIW radar since 1955, 4 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 2.50-inch hail (tennis ball size) on July 1, 1982.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 26 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 5 |
| Strongest tornado | F3 · Jun 1962 |
| Busiest tornado month | June |
| Largest hail | 2.50 in · Jul 1982 |
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
- KBLX · Billings, MT 193 mi
- KSFX · Pocatello, ID 212 mi
- KCYS · Cheyenne, WY 230 mi
- KMTX · Salt Lake City, UT 238 mi
- KGJX · Grand Junction, CO 277 mi
KRIW radar FAQ
How often does KRIW 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 KRIW?
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 KRIW down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KBLX, KSFX, KCYS).