1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-18 (GOES-West) Water Vapor (6.9 µm) images (above) showed a mid-tropospheric shortwave trough that was moving inland across central/northern California — along with associated surface warm and cold frontal features on 14th December 2024. Sporadic lightning activity within a few bands of convection was indicated by GLM Flash Points. Of particular... Read More
1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-18 (GOES-West) Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images (above) displayed a pronounced thermal signature associated with the Franklin Fire, which began burning just north-northwest Malibu, California around 0644 UTC on 10th December 2024 (or 10:24 PM PST on 9th December). This wildfire was driven by strong Santa Ana winds, which helped it to increase rapidly in... Read More
The GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) have been around since 1975, although there were earlier non-operational versions operated by NASA, such as ATS, which carried UW/Madison’s Verner Suomi‘s Spin-Scan Cloudcover Camera. The ATS was followed by the SMS, which carried an early version of the VISSR.To prepare for the 50th anniversary of GOES,... Read More
GOES-West imagery centered over the Samoan Islands, shown above in an animation, shows a region of rich moisture surrounding those islands (purple in the enhancement, which suggests values or 2-2.2″), but the islands themselves are within a dry pocket (TPW values closer to 1.7″, orange/rust in the enhancement used). Total... Read More
