PABC radar — Bethel, AK
PABC is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Bethel area, operated with the NWS office AFC. View it live in TALON — the loop, super-res reflectivity, storm-relative velocity, rotation and correlation coefficient.
| Station | PABC (Bethel, Alaska) |
|---|---|
| Location | 60.7800°, -161.8700° |
| Elevation | 161 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 PABC see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from PABC, 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 PABC | 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 PABC's range
Since 1950, NOAA has recorded 2 tornadoes within 60 miles of the PABC radar, all of them weak (EF0–EF1). The strongest was an F0 on June 14, 2004, which touched down about 17 miles north-northeast of the radar. The most recent was an F0 on June 18, 2004, which touched down about 56 miles west of the radar.
Hail: 1 report of hail 1 inch or larger within 60 miles of the PABC radar since 1955. The largest was 1.00-inch hail (quarter size) on June 6, 2018.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 2 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 0 |
| Strongest tornado | F0 · Jun 2004 |
| Largest hail | 1.00 in · Jun 2018 |
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
- PAKC · King Salmon, AK 234 mi
- PAEC · Nome, AK 279 mi
- PAHG · Kenai, AK 355 mi
- PAPD · Pedro Dome, AK 537 mi
- PAIH · Middleton Island, AK 542 mi
PABC radar FAQ
How often does PABC 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 PABC?
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 PABC down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (PAKC, PAEC, PAHG).