KVTX radar — Los Angeles, CA
KVTX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Los Angeles area, operated with the NWS office LOX. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KVTX (Los Angeles, California) |
|---|---|
| Location | 34.4120°, -119.1790° · Ventura County |
| Elevation | 2,805 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 KVTX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KVTX, 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 KVTX | 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 KVTX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 30 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KVTX radar, 2 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in January and December. The strongest was an F2 on March 1, 1983, which passed about 54 miles east-southeast of the radar. The most recent was an EF0 on February 13, 2025, which touched down about 17 miles south of the radar.
Hail: 19 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KVTX radar since 1955. The largest was 1.75-inch hail (golf ball size) on June 5, 2023.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 30 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 2 |
| Strongest tornado | F2 · Mar 1983 |
| Busiest tornado month | January |
| Largest hail | 1.75 in · Jun 2023 |
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
- KVBX · Vandenberg AFB, CA 75 mi
- KSOX · Santa Ana Mountains, CA 97 mi
- KEYX · Edwards AFB, CA 103 mi
- KHNX · San Joaquin Valley, CA 134 mi
- KNKX · San Diego, CA 160 mi
KVTX radar FAQ
How often does KVTX 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 KVTX?
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 KVTX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KVBX, KSOX, KEYX).