KRLX radar — Charleston, WV
KRLX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Charleston area, operated with the NWS office RLX. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KRLX (Charleston, West Virginia) |
|---|---|
| Location | 38.3110°, -81.7230° · Kanawha County |
| Elevation | 1,211 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 KRLX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KRLX, 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 KRLX | 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 KRLX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 91 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KRLX radar, 18 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in April and June. The strongest was an F5 on April 23, 1968, which passed about 44 miles northwest of the radar and caused 7 deaths. The most recent was an EF0 on May 26, 2024, which touched down about 18 miles north-northwest of the radar.
Hail: 947 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KRLX radar since 1955, 55 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 4.25-inch hail (softball size) on May 23, 2019.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 91 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 18 |
| Strongest tornado | F5 · Apr 1968 |
| Busiest tornado month | April |
| Largest hail | 4.25 in · May 2019 |
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 KRLX
- Columbus, OH 133 mi north-northwest
- Lexington, KY 152 mi west
- Cincinnati, OH 160 mi west-northwest
Nearby radars
- KJKL · Jackson, KY 100 mi
- KFCX · Blacksburg, VA 119 mi
- KILN · Wilmington, OH 136 mi
- KPBZ · Pittsburgh, PA 173 mi
- KMRX · Knoxville, TN 175 mi
KRLX radar FAQ
How often does KRLX 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 KRLX?
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 KRLX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KJKL, KFCX, KILN).