From GOES-A (1) in 1975, to GOES-T (18) launched in 2022! On January 4, 2023 GOES-18 is operational as GOES-West, here’s a look-back at all the GOES. Note that the GOES-R series imagers support the generation of a true color image, given they have the blue (or 0.47 micrometer) band. Continuity is critical for operational satellites... Read More

Heavy rains have finally hit California, which declared a state of emergency on Wednesday January 4 due to extreme rainfall amounts. The GOES-West enhanced Band 9 imagery (6.9 µm, mid-level water vapor) illustrates how moisture associated with the recent similar Trans-Pacific atmospheric river generated heavy rainfall for much of California, Oregon, and... Read More

GOES-17 — and GOES-18, beginning at 1801 UTC on 04 January (after GOES-18 became the operational GOES-West satellite) — Air Mass RGB images (above) showed a rapidly-intensifying Hurricane Force low pressure system (surface analyses) over the East Pacific Ocean as it approached the US West Coast during the 03 January – 04 January 2023 period... Read More

GOES-18 became the operational GOES-West satellite at 1800 UTC on 4 January. The toggle above shows the GOES-West (labeled as GOES-17, but the 1806 UTC image is using GOES-18 satellite information) IFR Probability Fields before/after the changeover. The IFR Probability field gives more useful information about surface visibility/ceiling restrictions than (for example) visible imagery (shown here) that shows widespread cloudiness at the... Read More