KTFX radar — Great Falls, MT
KTFX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Great Falls area, operated with the NWS office TFX. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KTFX (Great Falls, Montana) |
|---|---|
| Location | 47.4600°, -111.3850° · Cascade County |
| Elevation | 3,802 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 KTFX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KTFX, 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 KTFX | 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 KTFX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 39 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KTFX radar, 4 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in July and June. The strongest was an F2 on April 24, 1994, which touched down about 57 miles east-southeast of the radar. The most recent was an EF0 on July 6, 2022, which touched down about 58 miles east-southeast of the radar.
Hail: 470 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KTFX radar since 1955, 48 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 4.50-inch hail (grapefruit size) on August 13, 1991.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 39 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 4 |
| Strongest tornado | F2 · Apr 1994 |
| Busiest tornado month | July |
| Largest hail | 4.50 in · Aug 1991 |
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
- KMSX · Missoula, MT 125 mi
- KBLX · Billings, MT 172 mi
- KGGW · Glasgow, MT 227 mi
- KOTX · Spokane, WA 291 mi
- KSFX · Pocatello, ID 307 mi
KTFX radar FAQ
How often does KTFX 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 KTFX?
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 KTFX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KMSX, KBLX, KGGW).