Live/Radar/Every radar/KCXX
Single radar / Vermont
Burlington radar KCXX
The weather service radar at Burlington, Vermont, alone: each picture it makes from its own scans, at four tilts from its lowest up, every few minutes. Reflectivity, velocity, storm relative velocity, correlation coefficient and differential reflectivity, the storms it tracks and where they are headed, and how high its beam passes. How to read them.
- Latest scan
- Scanning
- Precipitation mode, pattern 215
- Tilts
- 0.5°, 1.3°, 2.4°, 3.1°
- Stands at
- 44.511°N 73.166°W, 317 ft above sea level
- Reaches
- 286 mi with reflectivity, 186 mi with velocity, 143 mi with storm relative velocity
Storms it tracks
The radar follows each storm cell from scan to scan, measures the way it is moving, and puts it ahead 15 to 60 minutes. Each is drawn on the map above, its track to the hour ahead marked each quarter hour.
| Storm | Where | Moving | In 30 minutes | In 60 minutes | Last forecast off by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| H1 | 10 mi north of Dannemora, NY36 mi from the radar, bearing 313° | Toward the east at 91 mph | - | - | 2.8 mi |
| K2 | 1 mi south of Cumberland Head, NY17 mi from the radar, bearing 319° | Toward the east at 61 mph | 5 mi northwest of Johnson, VT | - | 2.2 mi |
| V0 | 79 mi north northwest of the radar79 mi from the radar, bearing 336° | Toward the east at 74 mph | 79 mi north of the radar | 94 mi north northeast of the radar | 0.8 mi |
| J2 | 6 mi west southwest of Johnson, VT20 mi from the radar, bearing 68° | Toward the northeast at 71 mph | - | - | 6.4 mi |
| C1 | 61 mi north of the radar61 mi from the radar, bearing 350° | Toward the east at 72 mph | 70 mi north northeast of the radar | 93 mi northeast of the radar | 1 mi |
| X2 | 99 mi north northwest of the radar99 mi from the radar, bearing 340° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| Z1 | 9 mi east northeast of Lake Placid, NY35 mi from the radar, bearing 251° | Toward the east at 60 mph | - | - | 3.7 mi |
| Y2 | 14 mi east of Old Forge, NY93 mi from the radar, bearing 235° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| T2 | 8 mi south southwest of Rouses Point, NY28 mi from the radar, bearing 335° | Toward the east northeast at 35 mph | - | - | 2.9 mi |
| D2 | 9 mi southwest of Hardwick, VT32 mi from the radar, bearing 100° | Toward the east northeast at 67 mph | 7 mi east of Lyndonville, VT | - | 1.6 mi |
| M2 | 62 mi west of the radar62 mi from the radar, bearing 274° | Toward the east northeast at 68 mph | 3 mi southwest of Dannemora, NY | At St. Albans, VT | 0.8 mi |
| L2 | 73 mi north of the radar73 mi from the radar, bearing 350° | Toward the east northeast at 83 mph | 85 mi north northeast of the radar | - | 2.3 mi |
| F2 | 4 mi north northwest of Winooski, VT4 mi from the radar, bearing 306° | Toward the east northeast at 61 mph | - | - | 3.3 mi |
| N2 | 85 mi northwest of the radar85 mi from the radar, bearing 321° | Toward the east at 59 mph | 76 mi north northwest of the radar | 77 mi north of the radar | 1 mi |
| O2 | At Saranac Lake, NY50 mi from the radar, bearing 256° | Toward the east at 67 mph | 8 mi south of Keeseville, NY | - | 1.4 mi |
| S2 | 82 mi north northwest of the radar82 mi from the radar, bearing 327° | Toward the east northeast at 70 mph | 85 mi north of the radar | 101 mi north of the radar | 1.2 mi |
| I2 | 9 mi northeast of Bristol, VT23 mi from the radar, bearing 150° | Toward the east at 82 mph | 5 mi northwest of Woodsville, NH | - | 1.7 mi |
| Z2 | 8 mi south southeast of Essex Junction, VT10 mi from the radar, bearing 142° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| P2 | 8 mi southeast of South Barre, VT48 mi from the radar, bearing 125° | Toward the east at 87 mph | - | - | 3.3 mi |
| A3 | 8 mi south southwest of Morrisville, VT27 mi from the radar, bearing 100° | First seen this scan | - | - | 0 mi |
| E2 | 5 mi southeast of Milton, VT8 mi from the radar, bearing 53° | Toward the east at 29 mph | - | - | 4.3 mi |
| Y1 | 2 mi north northeast of Shelburne, VT7 mi from the radar, bearing 197° | Toward the northeast at 62 mph | - | - | 5.4 mi |
How high it sees
The beam leaves the radar tilted up and the earth curves away under it, so the farther from the radar, the higher it passes. Rain or snow falling under the lowest beam is not seen: far from the radar, shallow snow and drizzle can fall unseen. The heights are the standard ones, the air bending the beam as the weather service’s own rule takes it.
| Tilt | 25 mi | 50 mi | 100 mi | 150 mi | 200 mi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5° | 1,500 ft | 3,600 ft | 9,600 ft | 18,200 ft | 29,200 ft |
| 1.3° | 3,300 ft | 7,200 ft | 17,000 ft | 29,300 ft | 44,000 ft |
| 2.4° | 5,800 ft | 12,300 ft | 27,200 ft | 44,500 ft | 64,400 ft |
| 3.1° | 7,500 ft | 15,600 ft | 33,600 ft | 54,200 ft | 77,400 ft |
| Width | 2,200 ft | 4,400 ft | 8,800 ft | 13,100 ft | 17,500 ft |
How to read the pictures
- Reflectivity
- How strongly rain, snow and hail send the pulse back, in dBZ: the stronger, the heavier.
- Velocity
- The wind along the beam, in mph: green toward the radar, red away. Where the two meet tightly, the wind turns.
- Storm relative velocity
- The same wind with the storms’ own motion taken away, so a storm’s turning stands out: a tight pair of green and red is a rotating storm.
- Correlation coefficient
- How alike the returns of one pulse are, 0 to 1: rain and snow near 1, hail and melting snow lower, and debris a tornado lifts well below 0.8.
- Differential reflectivity
- How much wider than tall what falls is, in dB: large flat raindrops read high, hail and dry snow near 0.
Each picture is one tilt of one scan, as the radar sent it: its lowest tilt first, then three above it, the angles its scan pattern sets. A picture at a higher tilt sees higher into a storm, and farther over the ground at each distance. Press a point on the map to read the value there.
As data: /radar/now.json?show=sref&site=KCXX, the times of its frames, and /radar/s/KCXX/storms.json, the storms it tracks.