KSGF radar — Springfield, MO
KSGF is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Springfield area, operated with the NWS office SGF. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KSGF (Springfield, Missouri) |
|---|---|
| Location | 37.2350°, -93.4000° · Greene County |
| Elevation | 1,375 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 KSGF see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KSGF, 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 KSGF | 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 KSGF's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 534 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KSGF radar, 93 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in May and April. The strongest was an EF5 on May 22, 2011, which passed about 48 miles west-southwest of the radar and caused 158 deaths. The most recent was an EF1 on June 6, 2025, which passed about 47 miles southwest of the radar.
Hail: 2,680 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KSGF radar since 1955, 238 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 5.25-inch hail (grapefruit size) on April 26, 1994.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 534 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 93 |
| Strongest tornado | EF5 · May 2011 |
| Busiest tornado month | May |
| Largest hail | 5.25 in · Apr 1994 |
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 KSGF
- Springfield, MO 6 mi east-southeast
- Joplin, MO 62 mi west
- Fayetteville, AR 90 mi south-southwest
- Columbia, MO 132 mi north-northeast
- Overland Park, KS 139 mi north-northwest
- Fort Smith, AR 139 mi south-southwest
- Kansas City, MO 144 mi north-northwest
- Kansas City, KS 146 mi north-northwest
- Tulsa, OK 162 mi west-southwest
- Topeka, KS 176 mi northwest
- Little Rock, AR 183 mi south-southeast
Nearby radars
- KEAX · Kansas City, MO 119 mi
- KINX · Tulsa, OK 140 mi
- KSRX · Fort Smith, AR 145 mi
- KLZK · Little Rock, AR 178 mi
- KLSX · St. Louis, MO 179 mi
KSGF radar FAQ
How often does KSGF 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 KSGF?
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 KSGF down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KEAX, KINX, KSRX).