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Satellite signatures of SpaceX Starship Test Flight 11

By Scott Bachmeier •

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-19 (GOES-East) images from all 16 ABI spectral bands (above) showed thermal signatures of SpaceX Starship Test Flight 11 — launched from Starbase in South Texas at 2323 UTC on 13 October 2025.A thermal signature of the Super Heavy stage 1 booster rocket was apparent in Near-Infrared (Bands 04-06)... Read More

1-minute GOES-19 multi-panel images of all 16 ABI spectral bands, from 2322-2329 UTC on 13 October [click to play MP4 animation]

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-19 (GOES-East) images from all 16 ABI spectral bands (above) showed thermal signatures of SpaceX Starship Test Flight 11 — launched from Starbase in South Texas at 2323 UTC on 13 October 2025.

A thermal signature of the Super Heavy stage 1 booster rocket was apparent in Near-Infrared (Bands 04-06) and Infrared (Bands 07-16) spectral bands at 2125 UTC (below).

GOES-19 multi-panel image of all 16 ABI spectral bands at 2325 UTC on 13 October, with the Super Heavy booster thermal signatures highlighted by cyan circles [click to enlarge]

After separation from the stage 2 Starship, the stage 1 Super Heavy performed a boostback burn in order to descend and make a soft landing in the Gulf of Mexico (just off the Texas coast) — a thermal signature of the boostback burn was seen in Bands 05-07 at 2329 UTC (below).

GOES-19 multi-panel image of all 16 ABI spectral bands at 2329 UTC on 13 October, with the Super Heavy booster re-entry burn thermal signature in Bands 05/06/07 highlighted by cyan circles [click to enlarge]

A larger-scale stepped sequence of 1-minute GOES-19 images from all 16 ABI spectral bands is shown below.

Stepped sequence of 1-minute GOES-19 images from all 16 ABI spectral bands, from 2322-2330 UTC on 13 October [click to play MP4 animation]

In a toggle between two GOES-19 Upper-level Water Vapor images (below), the change in appearance of the Starship’s superheated water vapor trail changed from a more linear shape at 2327 UTC (at lower altitudes of 50-70 km in the Stratosphere, where the atmosphere had more density and ambient pressure) to a “boomerang” shape at 2329 UTC (at higher altitudes of 70-100 km, where the atmosphere within the Mesosphere and Thermosphere had much less density and ambient pressure, allowing the water vapor trail to expand outward).

GOES-19 Upper-level Water Vapor images at 2327 UTC and 2329 UTC on 13 October [click to enlarge]

A toggle between GOES-19 Shortwave Infrared and Upper-level Water Vapor images at 2330 UTC (below) revealed a cluster of hotter pixels (darker shade of red) at the leading edge of the water vapor trail (darker shades blue).

GOES-19 Shortwave Infrared and Upper-level Water Vapor images at 2330 UTC on 13 October [click to enlarge]

1-minute GOES-19 Rocket Plume RGB images created using Geo2Grid (below) provided a single product to visualize the initial 2323 UTC launch thermal anomaly (pink), the Super Heavy and Starship water vapor plumes (brighter shades of green) and the slow westward drift of the Super Heavy launch condensation cloud (darker shades of red).

1-minute GOES-19 Rocket Plume RGB images, from 2322-2329 UTC on 13 October [click to play animated GIF]

1-minute GOES-19 True Color RGB images from the CSPP GeoSphere site (below) showed the Super Heavy rocket booster condensation cloud as it slowly drifted westward over South Texas — along with the smaller condensation cloud from the Super Heavy booster as it later made its landing off the Texas coast.

1-minute GOES-19 True Color RGB images, from 2322-2336 UTC on 13 October [click to play MP4 animation]

The 2 condensation clouds are highlighted on the 2335 UTC GOES-19 True Color RGB image (below).

GOES-19 True Color RGB image at 2335 UTC on 13 October, highlighting the Super Heavy booster rocket condensation cloud from its launch and from its subsequent landing burn [click to enlarge]

A plot of rawinsonde data from Brownsville, Texas (KBRO) (below) showed easterly winds throughout the entire mid/upper troposphere and lower stratosphere — which explained the westward drift of the Super Heavy booster condensation cloud after launch.

Plot of rawinsonde data from Brownsville TX at 0000 UTC on 14 October [click to enlarge]

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Remnants of Typhoon Halong intensifies over the Bering Sea, then moves inland across western/nortwestern Alaska

By Scott Bachmeier •

10-minute Full Disk scan GOES-18 (GOES-West) Mid-level Water Vapor images (above) showed the remnants of Typhoon Halong (North Pacific surface analyses) as it entered the Bering Sea late in the day on 11 October, re-intensified to a Hurricane Force low pressure (Alaska surface analyses) then eventually moved inland across far western and northwestern Alaska later in... Read More

10-minute GOES-18 Mid-level Water Vapor (6.9 µm) images, with 30-minute Peak Wind gusts plotted in cyan/red, from 2100 UTC on 11 October to 2300 UTC on 12 October [click to play MP4 animation]

10-minute Full Disk scan GOES-18 (GOES-West) Mid-level Water Vapor images (above) showed the remnants of Typhoon Halong (North Pacific surface analyses) as it entered the Bering Sea late in the day on 11 October, re-intensified to a Hurricane Force low pressure (Alaska surface analyses) then eventually moved inland across far western and northwestern Alaska later in the day on 12 October 2025 (crossing the Seward Peninsula after 1600 UTC, then traversing the far western North Slope after 2100 UTC).

Notable peak wind gusts (below) included 80 kts (92 mph) at St. George (PAPB) in the Bering Sea at 0615 UTC, 75 kts (86 mph) at Cape Newingham (PAEH) along the southwest coast of Alaska at 0915 UTC, 87 kts (100 mph) at Toksook Bay (PAOO) along the southwest coast of Alaska at 1135 UTC and 70 kts (81 mph) at St. Michael (PAMK) farther inland just south of Norton Sound at 1829 UTC.

GOES-18 Mid-level Water Vapor image at 0700 UTC on 12 October, with a cursor sample of the St. George (PAPB) METAR showing a Peak Wind gust of 80 kts that occurred at 0615 UTC [click to enlarge]


GOES-18 Mid-level Water Vapor image at 1000 UTC on 12 October, with a cursor sample of the Cape Newingham (PAEH) METAR showing a Peak Wind gust of 75 kts that occurred at 0915 UTC [click to enlarge]


GOES-18 Mid-level Water Vapor image at 1200 UTC on 12 October, with a cursor sample of the Toksook Bay (PAOO) METAR showing a Peak Wind gust of 87 kts that occurred at 1135 UTC [click to enlarge]


GOES-18 Mid-level Water Vapor image at 1900 UTC on 12 October, with a cursor sample of the St. Michael (PAMK) METAR showing a Peak Wind gust of 70 kts that occurred at 1829 UTC [click to enlarge]

A toggle between Suomi-NPP VIIRS Infrared Window and Day/Night Band images at 1424 UTC (below) showed the remnants of Typhoon Halong as it was centered over Norton Sound, south of the Seward Peninsula.

Suomi-NPP VIIRS Infrared Window (11.45 µm) and Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) images at 1424 UTC on 12 October, with plots of Peak Wind Gusts plotted in cyan/red [click to enlarge]

A mid-tropospheric dry slot (shades of yellow) was evident in GOES-18 Water Vapor imagery as it progressed northeast across the Bering Sea (0400 UTC image) — the downward transfer of momentum could have been a factor in producing some of the stronger wind gusts at the surface, as was suggested by a plot of rawinsonde data at Nome PAOM (located on the southern coast of the Seward Peninsula).

Plot of rawinsonde data at Nome, Alaska at 1200 UTC on 12 October [click to enlarge]

More details on this event are available here, here and here.

The remnants of Typhoon Halong appear to have potentially set a local ERA5 record (1950-2024) for lowest MSLP for the month of October:

— Tomer Burg (@burgwx.bsky.social) 2025-10-13T01:11:06.134Z

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1-minute GOES-18 imagery to monitor the potential of flash flooding in American Samoa

By Scott Bachmeier •

Due to a lack of radar coverage over American Samoa, WSO Pago Pago requested a 1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector over the islands to monitor convective development and the potential for flash flooding. GOES-18 (GOES-West) Clean Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (above) showed rain showers that developed in the general vicinity of the American Samoa island... Read More

1-minute GOES-18 Infrared images with an overlay of the Total Precipitable Water derived product (in cloud-free areas) and GLM Flash Points (white), along with plots of METAR surface reports (cyan), from 0401-1400 UTC on 09 October [click to play MP4 animation]

Due to a lack of radar coverage over American Samoa, WSO Pago Pago requested a 1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector over the islands to monitor convective development and the potential for flash flooding. GOES-18 (GOES-West) Clean Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (above) showed rain showers that developed in the general vicinity of the American Samoa island of Tutuila (where Pago Pago International Airport NSTU is located) on 09 October 2025. GLM Flash Points indicated that intermittent lightning occurred very near the island of Tutuila — although no thunderstorms or lightning were explicitly reported during that particular 10-hour period at NSTU. The northwest-to-southeast orientated band of deep convection was aligned along a trough of low pressure that was located across the islands.

A Flash Flood Warning was issued at 0335 UTC (25 minutes prior to the start of the animation shown above), which was valid until 0700 UTC — 0.60″ of rainfall was recorded during the 6-hour period ending at 0600 UTC, but there no reports of flooding on Tutuila that were received by WSO Pago Pago.

GOES-18 Total Precipitable Water derived product values in the vicinity of American Samoa were generally in the 2.0-2.4 inch range — and a toggle between Pago Pago rawinsonde data at 0000 UTC and 1200 UTC (below) indicated that Precipitable Water (PW) increased from 2.19 inches to 2.40 inches during that 12-hour period. In addition, after 1200 UTC the coldest cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures associated with some of the rain showers and thunderstorms across the region were around -80ºC (darker shades of purple embedded within brighter white areas) — which represented a small overshoot of the Most Unstable (MU) air parcel’s Equilibrium Level (EL).

Plots of rawinsonde data from Pago Pago (NSTU) at 0000 UTC and 1200 UTC on 09 October [click to enlarge]

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Thermal signatures of the Chevron El Segundo refinery fire near Los Angeles

By Scott Bachmeier •

An explosion followed by a large fire occurred at the Chevron El Segundo refinery near Los Angeles (media story) around 0430 UTC on 03 October 2025 (9:30 PM PDT on 02 October). A thermal signature of the fire was evident in 5-minute CONUS Sector GOES-18 (GOES-West) Near-Infrared and Shortwave Infrared images... Read More

5-minute GOES-18 Near-Infrared (0.87 µm, 1.61 µm and 2.25 µm) and Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images, from 0416-0701 UTC on 03 October; Interstate highways are plotted in red [click to play MP4 animation]

An explosion followed by a large fire occurred at the Chevron El Segundo refinery near Los Angeles (media story) around 0430 UTC on 03 October 2025 (9:30 PM PDT on 02 October). A thermal signature of the fire was evident in 5-minute CONUS Sector GOES-18 (GOES-West) Near-Infrared and Shortwave Infrared images (above), beginning at 0431 UTC — however, this thermal signature began to become less apparent after about 0701 UTC.

In contrast, GOES-18 Microphysics RGB images with an overlay of Next Generation Fire System (NGFS) Fire Detection polygons (below) exhibited a distinct thermal signature for a significantly longer time period (ending at 1626 UTC).

5-minute GOES-18 Microphysics RGB images with an overlay of NGFS Fire Detection polygons, from 0416-1701 UTC on 03 October [click to play MP4 animation]

A cursor sample of GOES-18 NGFS Fire Detection parameters at 0431 UTC is shown below.

GOES-18 Microphysics RGB image at 0431 UTC on 03 October, with a cursor sample of NGFS Fire Detection parameters [click to enlarge]

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