Meteorological satellites don’t just observe the current weather. They can also keep track of the weather’s aftermath. A great example of this is with flooding. Floods are significant economic disasters, causing upwards of $180 billion in damage (almost 1% of the US GDP) annually to structures, agriculture, and transportation infrastructure.... Read More

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-18 (GOES-West) GeoColor RGB images (above) showed the dense smoke plume associated with the Aspen Acres Fire in southeastern Colorado on 29 June 2026. As the smoke plume drifted northeast across the Pueblo Airport, it restricted the surface visibility to 2 miles at times.1-minute GOES-18 GeoColor RGB images with plots of... Read More

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-18 (GOES-West) GeoColor RGB images with/without an overlay of Next Generation Fire System (NGFS) Fire Detection polygons (above) highlighted the rapid growth of the Snyder Fire as it merged with other wildfires in far western Colorado during the day on 27 June 2026. Firefighters working the Knowles and Gore fires in far... Read More

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-18 (GOES-West) Infrared Window images combined with the FDCA Fire Mask derived product (above) showed that the Cottonwood Fire in southwestern Utah produced a sequence of pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb) clouds beginning late in the day on 23 June 2026. These pyroCbs eventually drifted eastward across the Utah/Colorado border.Each... Read More