A NEXRAD WSR-88D weather radar in Alabama, the United States, operated by National Weather Service, NOAA.
- Station
- Birmingham (KBMX)
- Site
- Calera
- Operator
- National Weather Service, NOAA
- Network
- NEXRAD WSR-88D
- Antenna
- 33.172° N, 86.770° W, 645 ft (197 m) above sea level
- Products
- Reflectivity, composite reflectivity, echo tops, vertically integrated liquid, velocity, correlation coefficient, differential reflectivity, specific differential phase (KDP), spectrum width
KBMX is the NEXRAD WSR-88D weather radar for Birmingham, Alabama. The antenna stands in Shelby County about 25 miles south-southeast of downtown Birmingham, on land owned by Alabama Power Company, immediately across the interstate from the Shelby County Airport. The National Weather Service forecast office in Calera, beside the airport, operates the radar. NWS Birmingham lists the site as Calera, while the Radar Operations Center network list and NCEI give it as Alabaster; the two towns are a few kilometres either side of the antenna.
The radar was installed in the spring of 1994 and replaced the older WSR-57 radar at Centreville, after which the Centreville office closed. NCEI's archive of the radar's data begins in May 1994. Birmingham, Hoover, Alabaster, Pelham and Tuscaloosa are among the nearby places.
Radar shows rain, snow and hail, not cloud, and nothing below its lowest beam; far from the antenna the beam passes high above the ground.