diff --git a/modules/util/lon_lat_grid.py b/modules/util/lon_lat_grid.py
index 9b910a0a4d628726e3fdeb3f787cd365ff02bc5b..1b4e65fa170017e8a389531db1e4bb6f09e2be05 100644
--- a/modules/util/lon_lat_grid.py
+++ b/modules/util/lon_lat_grid.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ class LonLatGrid:
     # Incoming longitude must be in range: 0 - 360 degrees
     # Can have NaN for off Earth grid points (these are handled internally).
     # closeness_threshold: if < distance of located_point to target, return off grid
-    def __init__(self, grd_lons, grd_lats, closeness_threshold=5000, reduce=1, leaf_size=40):
+    def __init__(self, grd_lons, grd_lats, closeness_threshold=2000, reduce=1, leaf_size=40):
         if grd_lons.shape != grd_lats.shape:
             raise MyGenericException('incoming lons,lats must have same shape')
 
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ class LonLatGrid:
         points = np.stack([flons, flats], axis=1)
 
         self.kd = BallTree(np.deg2rad(points), leaf_size=leaf_size, metric='haversine')
-        self.closeness_threshold = closeness_threshold
+        self.closeness_threshold = closeness_threshold * reduce
         self.reduce = reduce
 
     # locate nearest neighbor for incoming target in earth coordinates (Should not have NaNs)