KTLX radar — Oklahoma City, OK
KTLX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Oklahoma City area, operated with the NWS office OUN. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KTLX (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) |
|---|---|
| Location | 35.3334°, -97.2779° · Cleveland County |
| Elevation | 1,207 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 KTLX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KTLX, 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 KTLX | 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 KTLX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 1,103 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KTLX radar, 291 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in May and April. The strongest was an F5 on May 3, 1999, which passed about 12 miles northwest of the radar and caused 36 deaths. The most recent was an EF0 on July 12, 2025, which touched down about 24 miles north-northwest of the radar.
Hail: 4,612 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KTLX radar since 1955, 706 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 7.00-inch hail (grapefruit size) on April 30, 1961.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 1,103 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 291 |
| Strongest tornado | F5 · May 1999 |
| Busiest tornado month | May |
| Largest hail | 7.00 in · Apr 1961 |
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 KTLX
- Moore, OK 12 mi west
- Norman, OK 12 mi southwest
- Oklahoma City, OK 16 mi northwest
- Stillwater, OK 55 mi north-northeast
- Enid, OK 81 mi north-northwest
- Lawton, OK 81 mi southwest
- Tulsa, OK 92 mi northeast
- Wichita Falls, TX 120 mi southwest
- Denton, TX 147 mi south
- McKinney, TX 152 mi south-southeast
- Frisco, TX 153 mi south
- Fort Smith, AR 162 mi east
Nearby radars
- KVNX · Vance AFB, OK 108 mi
- KINX · Tulsa, OK 112 mi
- KFDR · Frederick, OK 117 mi
- KICT · Wichita, KS 161 mi
- KSRX · Fort Smith, AR 164 mi
KTLX radar FAQ
How often does KTLX 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 KTLX?
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 KTLX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KVNX, KINX, KFDR).