On March 14, 2022 NOAA‘s GOES-T becoming GOES-18 (once the satellite obtained the geostationary orbit). Let’s celebrate both pi day and GOES-18 with a look back at the launch. GOES-17 ABIGOES-17 ABI provided 30-sec imagery, as shown in these blog posts by Scott Bachmeier and Bill Line. Of course GOES-17 ABI was... Read More

Strong surface tradewinds over Guam, and the dry season over Guam, combined on 14 March to allow short-lived wildfires. The shortwave-infrared imagery above, color-enhanced so white pixels are warmest, shows occasional flare-ups over the southern half of the island between 2200 and 0400 UTC, and then again closer to 0600... Read More

Clear skies over the upper Midwest allowed an unobstructed view of the surface for VIIRS instrument on NOAA-20 and Suomi NPP. An ice-free Lake Michigan is apparent. Small patches of snow remain over Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin (ice-covered lakes remain as well); snow-covered surfaces and snow and ice-covered lakes appear... Read More

As a strong arctic cold front moved southward across the Gulf of Mexico and southern Mexico (surface analyses) on 12 March 2022, the cold air passed through the Chivela Pass and emerged as a Tehuano (or “Tehuantepecer“) gap wind that fanned outward across the Gulf of Tehuantepec. Visible images from GOES-17... Read More