KVWX radar — Evansville, IN
KVWX is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Evansville area, operated with the NWS office PAH. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | KVWX (Evansville, Indiana) |
|---|---|
| Location | 38.2600°, -87.7240° · Gibson County |
| Elevation | 627 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 KVWX see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from KVWX, 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 KVWX | 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 KVWX's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 518 tornadoes within 60 miles of the KVWX radar, 151 of them rated EF2/F2 or stronger. They have been most common in April and May. The strongest was an F5 on April 3, 1974, which passed about 55 miles east-southeast of the radar and caused 6 deaths. The most recent was an EF1 on December 28, 2025, which passed about 6 miles southeast of the radar.
Hail: 1,035 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the KVWX radar since 1955, 109 of them 2 inches or larger. The largest was 4.25-inch hail (softball size) on May 25, 2006.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 518 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 151 |
| Strongest tornado | F5 · Apr 1974 |
| Busiest tornado month | April |
| Largest hail | 4.25 in · May 2006 |
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 KVWX
- Evansville, IN 22 mi south-southeast
- Louisville, KY 107 mi east
- Indianapolis, IN 134 mi northeast
- St. Louis, MO 136 mi west-northwest
- Springfield, IL 147 mi northwest
- Nashville, TN 154 mi south-southeast
- Lexington, KY 176 mi east
- Cincinnati, OH 183 mi east-northeast
Nearby radars
- KLVX · Louisville, KY 99 mi
- KPAH · Paducah, KY 100 mi
- KHPX · Fort Campbell, KY 108 mi
- KIND · Indianapolis, IN 127 mi
- KOHX · Nashville, TN 153 mi
KVWX radar FAQ
How often does KVWX 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 KVWX?
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 KVWX down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (KLVX, KPAH, KHPX).