PAIH radar — Middleton Island, AK
PAIH is the National Weather Service's WSR-88D Doppler radar for the Middleton Island 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 | PAIH (Middleton Island, Alaska) |
|---|---|
| Location | 59.4500°, -146.3000° |
| Elevation | 66 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 PAIH see?
A radar beam travels in a nearly straight line while the Earth curves away underneath it, so the farther a storm is from PAIH, 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 PAIH | 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 PAIH's range
NOAA has no tornado on record within 60 miles of the PAIH radar since 1950 — but tornadoes can form anywhere severe storms do, so keep an eye on warnings.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 0 |
| EF2/F2 or stronger | 0 |
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
- PAHG · Kenai, AK 195 mi
- PAKC · King Salmon, AK 370 mi
- PAPD · Pedro Dome, AK 387 mi
- PACG · Biorka Island, AK 432 mi
- PABC · Bethel, AK 542 mi
PAIH radar FAQ
How often does PAIH 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 PAIH?
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 PAIH down?
Radars occasionally go offline for maintenance. When one does, TALON's US radar map fills the gap from neighboring radars (PAHG, PAKC, PAPD).