The Northern Lights Seen Across CONUS
November 12th, 2025 by Jorel TorresLast night, a severe geomagnetic storm produced an impressive aurora that could be seen across CONUS and observed as far south as Florida. The storm identified as a G4 level event described by the NOAA Space Weather Scale, which can disrupt technology on Earth, such as GPS/radio communications, electrical grids and cell towers.
The JPSS VIIRS Day/Night Band (DNB) captured this phenomena overnight, depicted by the elongated, irregular, white streaks in the imagery. Initially, the aurora was located near the U.S. / Canada border, then shifts further south towards the northern high plains. A VIIRS DNB imagery animation of the event is provided below. The product exhibits a 750 meter spatial resolution.
VIIRS DNB from 0510Z to 1010Z, 12 November 2025
Multiple NWS Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) highlighted the anomalous event via social media. Pictures of the aurora are showcased below.
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Hurricane Melissa
October 30th, 2025 by Jorel TorresA powerful Category 5 – Hurricane Melissa made landfall across western Jamaica on 28 October 2025. The hurricane brought strong winds (as high as 185 miles per hour), torrential rainfall and storm surge to the island, while inducing life threatening flooding, power outages, and damage to airports causing flight cancellations or delays. After the hurricane traversed over Jamaica, it re-entered into the Caribbean Sea, exhibiting a northeast storm track, and eventually impacted southeastern Cuba and the Bahamas within the next 48 hours. At peak intensity, the cyclone registered a central low pressure of 892 millibars, tied for the third strongest hurricane on record (by measure of pressure) in the Atlantic.
Nighttime visible imagery from the VIIRS Near-Constant Contrast (NCC) product captured the hurricane and its circular eye as it approached Jamaica during the early morning hours of 28 October 2025. Emitted lights produced from lightning (i.e., white pixels embedded within the clouds and convection) can be seen east of the eye, while emitted city lights over Jamaica are also observed in the imagery.
NOAA-20 VIIRS NCC at 0633Z, 28 October 2025
5-minute infrared data from GOES-19 observed the storm make landfall and then move across Jamaica. The hurricane’s eye initially stays intact before it eventually dissipates over the island’s higher terrain. Although not pictured here, the eye would re-form over the Caribbean Sea before the hurricane made landfall again, except this time over Cuba during the next day, 29 October 2025.
GOES-19 10.3 um IR from ~12Z, 28 October 2025 to ~22Z, 28 October 2025
Three overpasses from JPSS satellites (i.e., NOAA-20, NOAA-21 and SNPP) observed landfall of Hurricane Melissa while the eye subsides across Jamaica. The JPSS VIIRS infrared imagery exhibits a 375-m spatial resolution.
VIIRS I-5 Band (11.5 um) at 1748Z, 1838Z, and 1908Z, 28 October 2025
Along the southern side of Jamaica, VIIRS True Color RGB imagery depicts the new precipitation runoff and upwelling caused from the hurricane. Nighttime visible imagery also shows a before and after comparison of the power outages seen across the island. Refer the CIRA Twitter/X social media links below.
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Western Alaska Floods
October 23rd, 2025 by Jorel TorresBy J. Torres (CIRA), C. Dierking (GINA) and J. Delamere (GINA).
In Early October 2025, Typhoon Halong developed in the north Philippine Sea, skirted near Japan and eventually trekked eastward into the north Pacific Ocean. The storm became post-tropical, but continued to travel eastward through the north Pacific, then traversed through the Aleutian Islands and made landfall in western Alaska. The Ocean Prediction Center (OPC) surface analysis of the storm track can be viewed from ~00Z, 12 October 2025 to ~15Z, 13 October 2025. The synoptic-scaled system brought Alaska precipitation, hurricane-force winds and significant storm surge that led to widespread inundation, impacting the coastal communities and villages.
OPC Surface Analysis → ~00Z, 12 October 2025 to ~15Z, 13 October 2025
The strong system made landfall along the Alaskan coastline during the early morning hours of 12 October 2025. Air temperatures were in the 30’s and 40’s (in degrees Fahrenheit) while 80+ mph wind gusts were also reported. The prolonged, intense winds aided in the storm surge that inundated the coastal communities. In the AWIPS animation below, the surface observations can be seen overlaid onto the 375-m VIIRS 11.5 µm infrared imagery. The imagery also observes the central low pressure system that moves to the northeast as it approaches the coastline.
Surface Observations overlaid onto VIIRS 11.5 µm from 12-16Z, 12 October 2025
South of the central low pressure system, the GCOM AMSR-2 Sea Surface Winds product observed the wind speeds over the Bering Sea near Nunivak Island and the villages of Kipnuk, AK and Kwigillingok, AK. The sea surface winds were seen from 41 to 60 plus knots (i.e., 47 to 70 plus mph, depicted in orange, dark orange, and red colors) and located south and west of where Kipnuk and Kwigillingok reside. Note, one of the limitations of the AMSR-2 product is that it does not provide data within ~50 km (~31 miles) of land or ice. At this timestamp, the strongest winds of the system would have been observed along the coastline, meaning the most intense winds were not well represented here. The product exhibits a 6-km spatial resolution in AWIPS.
AMSR-2 Sea Surface Winds overland onto VIIRS 11.5 µm at ~1317Z, 12 October 2025
After the system passed, widespread flooding could be seen along the coastline, specifically from Kwigillingok, AK to Kipnuk, AK, and up north to Hooper Bay, AK. The VIIRS Day Land Cloud RGB, at 375-m, shows a daytime before and after image comparison of the new flood extent. Along the coastline, a mix of dark green and dark blue colors indicate new areas of marshy vegetation and inundation. Refer to the inundation within the white boxes.
VIIRS Day Land Cloud RGB –> Before (October 10th) and After (October 12th)
Zooming into the southernmost white box, where Kipnuk and Kwigillingok reside, the finer details of the inundation can be seen at high resolution. A Google map is also provided to help viewers locate the Alaskan villages along the coastline.
Although clouds were scattered across the region, the VIIRS Flood Map product was also able to detect some areas of inundation from the event, seen in green to yellow to red pixels at 375-m. Clouds and cloud terrain shadows are seen in grey and dark grey colors, while land is seen in brown. The flood product can be accessed online via RealEarth and in AWIPS.
VIIRS Flood Map –> 2217Z, 12 October 2025
In addition to storm surge, heavy precipitation was also observed over western Alaska. Moisture satellite products, such as the Blended Total Precipitable Water (TPW) and the Percent of Normal TPW provided a large-scale view of ex-Typhoon Halong, which eventually reorganized and intensified, bringing a plume of moisture that led to precipitation over the region. The Blended TPW product contains microwave data from polar-orbiting satellites, infrared data from geostationary satellites and Global Positioning System (GPS) TPW data. TPW values of ~1 to 2 inches (green to red colors) can be seen over western Alaska.
Blended TPW –> 17Z, 10 October 2025 to 10Z, 13 October 2025
In complement to Blended TPW, the Percent of Normal TPW product showed the significance of the anomalous atmospheric moisture within the system. In this case, exceptionally high percent of normal values (i.e., above normal climatological values of 200% or greater) were captured within the system, seen in yellow and gray colors.
Percent of Normal TPW –> 17Z, 10 October 2025 to 10Z, 13 October 2025
Additional reports and analyses of the event can be viewed below. Refer to the following articles covering the Western Alaska Floods: Anchorage Daily News, The Conversation, and the Alaska Beacon.
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Dense Fog across the High Plains
October 15th, 2025 by Jorel TorresDense Fog Advisories blanketed the high plains earlier this morning, extending from Nebraska to Wyoming and northern Colorado. National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) published social media posts online to remind the general public of how dense the fog could be, with less than a 1/4 mile visibility possible across their respective County Warning Areas (CWA). Social media posts from WFO Boulder, CO and WFO North Platte, NE can be seen below.
Hourly surface observations show the widespread fog initially located over Nebraska (and South Dakota), which then spread westward towards Wyoming and southward across northeastern Colorado.
Surface Observations from ~0400Z to ~1400Z , 15 October 2025
High temporal resolution imagery from geostationary satellites (10-min, Full Disk ABI data) shows the evolution of the fog, seen in ‘aqua to grey’ colors within the Nighttime Microphysics RGB. The GOES RGB exhibits a 2-km spatial resolution.
GOES ABI Nighttime Microphysics RGB from ~0400Z to ~1400Z, 15 October 2025
The JPSS VIIRS version of the Nighttime Microphysics RGB captures the fine details of the fog and low stratus at 750-m spatial resolution. Four overpasses from JPSS satellites passed over the domain from ~0800 to ~0940Z, 15 October 2025.
JPSS VIIRS Nighttime Microphysics RGB from ~0800Z to ~0940Z, 15 October 2025
Additionally, nighttime visible imagery observed the reflected moonlight off of the fog and low stratus, while capturing the emitted lights from cities and towns across Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska. The product also has a spatial resolution of 750-m.
NOAA-20 VIIRS NCC at 0849Z, 15 October 2025
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Nighttime Visible Imagery over the Atlantic
October 3rd, 2025 by Jorel TorresOver the past two weeks, a few hurricanes (Gabrielle, Humberto, and Imelda) traversed over the Atlantic Ocean, and either skirted along or directly impacted the United Kingdom (U.K.) territory of Bermuda. Nighttime visible imagery provided from the VIIRS Near-Constant Contrast (NCC) product captured the synoptic scaled systems across the Atlantic.
Note, for the best optimal viewing of VIIRS NCC, it is recommended to be used during the full moon phase of the lunar cycle (i.e., from ~2 days after the first quarter to ~2 days after the last quarter), since the illumination of features at night is a function of moon phase and elevation above the horizon. However, VIIRS NCC may also be utilized during the new moon phase of the lunar cycle (i.e., moonless nights) to observe atmospheric and surface features, which are predominately illuminated by nightglow. During this period, emitted lights (e.g., city lights) will appear significantly brighter than their surroundings, while atmospheric and surface features (e.g., clouds, snow and ice cover) will appear dim and fuzzy.
VIIRS NCC observes Category 4 – Hurricane Gabrielle at 0549Z, 23 September 2025
At this time stamp, Gabrielle was a Major Hurricane, but stayed east of Bermuda and eventually became a post-tropical cyclone, impacting the Portuguese Azores later that week. While the image is taken during a moonless night, the eye of the hurricane can still be discerned in the imagery. Emitted city lights from Bermuda are seen west of the hurricane as well.
VIIRS NCC observes Category 5 – Hurricane Humberto at 0559Z, 28 September 2025
Humberto experienced peak intensities of 160+ mph winds, where the large cyclone churned through the Atlantic over the course of a week and migrated anticyclonically (clockwise) around Bermuda before dissipating to the north/northeast of the territory. The image below shows the magnitude of Humberto while it was classified as a Category 5 hurricane. The cyclone was located northeast of Puerto Rico and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. Notice the scattered emitted city lights across the islands.
VIIRS NCC observes Category 1 – Hurricane Imelda at 0632Z, 1 October 2025
Hurricane Imelda and its eye, was located northeast of the Bahamas, and directly east of Florida. Later that day, Imelda intensified into a Category 2 hurricane, before making landfall in Bermuda. Imelda brought heavy precipitation and flooding along with high winds to the remote island. West of Imelda, saturated emitted city lights can be observed along the southeastern U.S., spanning from Florida to the Carolinas.
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