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What Are Echo Tops?

Here's what you need to know about echo tops, including how they're determined and how they compare to cloud tops.

Scott Dennstaedt, Ph.D

Wednesday, August 07, 2024 at 09:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By: tccjeremy

Despite what many pilots are taught, echo tops do not represent the height of the cloud tops. [Credit: Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

Echo top height, a product of NEXRAD radar, is not the same as cloud top height and should not be used by pilots to determine the actual height of cloud tops.
An echo top specifically defines the mean sea level (msl) height of the highest radar reflectivity of 18 dBZ, representing the top of a storm's precipitation core.
Cloud tops are typically 5,000 to 10,000 feet higher than echo tops in intense storms, as radar only detects precipitation (hydrometeors) and not all cloud particles.
While valuable for forecasters to identify significant convective storms and strong updrafts, echo tops do not indicate the vertical extent of non-precipitating weather systems like stratus decks.

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Question: Are echo tops the same as cloud tops?

Answer: The short answer is no. Echo top height is a volume product that originates from the NWS WSR-88D NEXRAD Doppler radars.

This is the same network of radars that is used to build the familiar radar mosaic pilots readily use in the cockpit. While not provided in the FIS-B broadcast, the echo top height product, however, is arguably the most misused data that is broadcast by SiriusXM to your satellite-based weather receiver.

Scott Dennstaedt, Ph.D

Scott resides in Charlotte, North Carolina, and flies regularly throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast U.S. He is a CFI and former NWS meteorologist. Scott is the author of "The Skew-T log (p) and Me: A Primer for Pilots" and the founder of EZWxBrief.