Several recent notices have announced that radiosonde-carrying balloon launches to measure the temperature and moisture (and winds) in the atmosphere are suspended due to personnel shortages. There are products available to mitigate this data shortage. NOAA-Unique Combined Atmospheric Processing System (NUCAPS) profiles (training video here) use data from CrIS/ATMS (on... Read More
A sequence of Suomi-NPP VIIRS Visible images (above) showed the formation of large ice leads in the eastern Beaufort Sea — as well as the growth of a polynya adjacent to the coast near the Alaska/Yukon border — during the 4-day period from 07-10 March 2025.Suomi-NPP VIIRS Shortwave Infrared images... Read More
On 20 February 2025, high winds at Pago Pago International Airport (located at 14.3oS, 170.7oW) meant Hawaiian Airlines Flight 465 (an A330 with 160 passengers on board) was forced to return to Honolulu (News Article; FlightAware screenshot) without its scheduled landing in Pago Pago. American Samoa at the time was within the... Read More
In a sequence of daytime True Color RGB + Nighttime Microphysics RGB images from GOES-16 (GOES-East) and GOES-18 (GOES-West) (above), signatures of the SpaceX Starship Test Flight 8 launch were seen — the Super Heavy Stage 1 rocket booster condensation cloud cast a long shadow across the water before sunset,... Read More
