KUEX radar — Hastings, NE
KUEX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Hastings area, operated with the NWS office GID. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KUEX (Hastings, Nebraska) |
|---|---|
| Location | 40.3210°, -98.4420° · Webster County |
| Elevation | 2,054 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 KUEX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KUEX, 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 KUEX | 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 KUEX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 833 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KUEX radar, 150 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in May and June. The strongest was an F5 on May 5, 1964, which passed about 16 miles north-northeast of the radar and caused 4 deaths. The most recent was an EF0 on May 18, 2025, which passed about 41 miles east of the radar.
Hail: 3,311 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KUEX radar since 1955, 460 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 7.00-inch hail (grapefruit size) on June 22, 2003.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 833 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 150 |
| Strongest tornado | F5 · May 1964 |
| Busiest tornado month | May |
| Largest hail | 7.00 in · Jun 2003 |
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 KUEX
- Grand Island, NE 42 mi north
- Lincoln, NE 97 mi east-northeast
- Salina, KS 111 mi south-southeast
- Omaha, NE 146 mi east-northeast
- Hutchinson, KS 159 mi south
- Topeka, KS 171 mi east-southeast
Nearby radars
- KOAX · Omaha, NE 129 mi
- KTWX · Topeka, KS 149 mi
- KLNX · North Platte, NE 158 mi
- KGLD · Goodland, KS 185 mi
- KICT · Wichita, KS 192 mi
KUEX radar FAQ
How often does KUEX 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 KUEX?
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 KUEX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KOAX, KTWX, KLNX).