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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 tops are distinct from cloud tops; they represent the highest point where radar detects significant precipitation (18 dBZ reflectivity) within a storm's core, not the full vertical extent of the cloud.
Cloud tops are typically higher than echo tops, sometimes by 5,000 to 10,000 feet in intense thunderstorms, making echo tops an unreliable indicator of actual cloud height for pilots.
Generated by NEXRAD Doppler radars, echo tops are primarily useful for forecasters to identify the most significant convective storms, pinpointing regions of stronger updrafts and higher potential for lightning.

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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.