VISIT: Meteorological Interpretation Blog

Early May Rocky Mountain Snowstorm

A rare winter storm impacted the central Rocky Mountains during early May 2026, bringing heavy wet snow that provided temporary relief to the drought-stricken region. Per NWS WFO Boulder, CO, the winter storm brought substantial snowfall accumulations, where Estes Park, CO, a town embedded within the Front Range Mountains, observed 30+ inches. Below, users can refer to the WFO’s infographic that depicts the observed snowfall totals across northern Colorado along with a video capturing the snowfall in Estes Park (per Denver’s 9News local station).

Surface observations highlight the precipitation that fell across southern Wyoming, Colorado and western Kansas over a ~40 hour period. Notice, several weather observation sites transition from rain (dot symbols) and drizzle (curly apostrophe symbols) to snow (asterisk symbols), as the air temperatures gradually get colder and the winter system moves toward the southeast.

Surface observations from 6Z, 5 May 2026 to 23Z, 6 May 2026

During the same timeframe, liquid equivalent, instantaneous snowfall rates, provided by the Snowfall Rate (SFR) product, can be seen below. SFR is derived from multiple passive microwave instruments on-board polar-orbiting satellites, where the product locates the snowfall extent and observes the most intense snowfall rates across the domain. The product fills the observations gaps where radar coverage is poor and or limited, however, exhibits an infrequent temporal resolution.

Snowfall Rate (SFR) observations from 5-6 May 2026

As the winter system passed through the region, geostationary satellites observed the extensive snow cover (seen in green pixels) across the central Rockies, where the snow melted rapidly due to the warmer daytime temperatures. This is most strikingly apparent across southwestern Wyoming.

GOES-19 ABI Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB from ~15-23Z, 6 May 2026

Zooming in along the Front Range and southeastern Wyoming, JPSS VIIRS instruments observed the snowmelt over a two day period and at 750 meter spatial resolution.

VIIRS Snowmelt RGB daytime images on 6 and 7 May 2026

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Southern Georgia Fires

Earlier this week, the National Weather Service (NWS) Atlanta, Georgia, posted a social media infographic describing the significant drought conditions across the state of Georgia, where approximately 90% of the state experienced severe to exceptional drought (i.e., D2 to D4 on the drought intensity scale). Subsequently, these conditions were conducive to fire initiation and spread, where two fires, the Pineland Road Fire and the Brantley Highway 82 Fire, erupted over southern Georgia. The two fires have scorched thousands of acres, forced road closures, and destroyed infrastructure. As of 23 April 2026, the Pineland Road Fire burned ~30,000 acres and the Brantley Highway 82 Fire burned ~4,400 acres (per Watch Duty).

High temporal resolution geostationary satellites observed the fires and corresponding smoke plumes during the afternoon of 21 April 2026. Pictured below, an Advanced GeoColor product named ‘GeoFire’, blends the GeoColor and Fire Temperature products together, where the product imagery depicts the fire hotspots and intensities (i.e., red, orange, yellow and white pixels) while also observing the aerosols and clouds during the daytime. The product is currently accessible on CIRA SLIDER and has a one kilometer spatial resolution.

GOES-19 ABI GeoFire Product observations from 15-20Z, 21 April 2026

At ~19Z, 21 April 2026, a satellite imagery comparison between the GOES-19 ABI Day Fire RGB and the VIIRS Day Fire RGB is shown below. The GOES RGB version exhibits a coarser 2-km spatial resolution compared to 375-m, provided by VIIRS. Although having a coarser temporal resolution, the VIIRS Day Fire RGB depicts the finer details of the active fires (red pixels), the fire perimeter, along with smoke (blue) and clouds (cyan). Enhanced resolution of the rivers, lakes and vegetation can be seen as well.

GOES-19 ABI Day Fire RGB and NOAA-21 VIIRS Day Fire RGB at ~19Z, 21 April 2026

One way users can observe fires at night is via the VIIRS Nighttime Microphysics RGB. The RGB’s main application is to identify cloud types from the low, middle and upper parts of the atmosphere, however, the RGB contains secondary applications, such as fire hotspot detection. At 750-m spatial resolution, fires are captured in dark magenta colors in contrast to the light pink, land surface background. Note, the RGB includes the 3.7 um, that is incorporated into a brightness temperature difference within the green spectra of the dataset. A VIIRS Nighttime Microphysics RGB animation observes the fire hotspots within the white boxes, during the early morning hours of 23 April 2026.

VIIRS Nighttime Microphysics RGB from 0700-0750Z, 23 April 2026

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Mid-March Nebraska Fires

Approximately a month ago, several fires erupted across western Nebraska, where the Morrill Fire and the Cottonwood Fire burned ~642,000 acres and 130,000 acres, respectively. An aerial view of the Cottonwood Fire is provided below via social media.

Both fires erupted during the afternoon of 12 March 2026. Smaller fires also ignited in Nebraska, Kansas and western South Dakota during the same time period. The high refresh rate from geostationary satellites captured significant cloud cover across the domain, while the fires appear in white and red pixels at 2-km spatial resolution. In the GOES-19 ABI 3.9 um animation, the Morrill and Cottonwood fire hotspots initiate, rapidly spread to the southeast, then shift to the south, as a gusty cold front approaches from the north. Refer to the 24 hour animation below. The Morrill Fire is located east of Scottsbluff, NE, and south of Alliance, NE, while the Cottonwood Fire was detected to the southeast of North Platte, NE.

GOES-19 ABI 3.9 um from ~15Z, 12 March 2026 to ~15Z, 13 March 2026

During the early morning hours of 13 March 2026, the JPSS NOAA-21 satellite detected the emitted lights from the fires, along with emitted city and town lights, provided by the VIIRS Day/Night Band (DNB). A comparison animation can be seen below, that highlights the nighttime visible imagery and the shortwave infrared to help identify which emitted lights are associated with the fires and which lights correspond with cities. Thermal hotspots and their corresponding emitted lights are observed within the yellow boxes in the animation. Note, emitted lights that do not have a thermal hotspot can be inferred as city lights. Both datasets exhibit 750-m spatial resolutions.

NOAA-21 VIIRS DNB and 3.7 um (M12) comparison at 0810Z, 13 March 2026

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Kilauea Eruption

On 10 March 2026, NWS WFO Honolulu, HI, issued a rare Ashfall Warning over the big island of Hawai’i as Kilauea, an active shield volcano, had violently erupted (yet again). This time, the volcanic eruption produced a significant ash plume that led to Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park to temporarily close parts of the park and nearby Highway 11, as copious amounts of ash and tephra fell from the sky.

The GOES-18 Ash RGB captured the extensive plume consisting of SO2 (bright green pixels) and a mix of ash and SO2 (yellow pixels), that traveled across the east side of the big island of Hawai’i and then traversed the Central Pacific Ocean. In the GOES animation below, the plume rapidly ejects to the southeast while shifting to the north/northeast throughout the time period.

GOES – 18 ABI Ash RGB from 1700Z, 10 March 2026 to 0300Z, 11 March 2026

During the afternoon of 10 March 2026, two overpasses from NOAA-20 and NOAA-21 VIIRS show the ash and SO2 advecting offshore. The VIIRS Ash RGB comprises of the 8.6 um (M14), 10.8 um (M15), and 12.0 um (M16) spectral channels, while exhibiting a 750-m spatial resolution.

VIIRS Ash RGB at 2302Z and 2352Z, 10 March 2026

Additionally, Kilauea’s hotspot could be seen by polar-orbiting satellites via the VIIRS Day Fire RGB animation, provided below.

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Blowing Snow across Northwest Alaska

NWS WFO Fairbanks, AK, forecasted blowing snow across northwestern Alaska, where the region would experience strong and gusty winds of ~50-60 mph from 6-8 March 2026. On the afternoon of 8 March 2026, the high winds led to the existing snowpack becoming dislodged, then picked up and blown across the remote landscape. Blowing snow and reduced visibility reports were identified in northwest Alaska, specifically at the Kotzebue (PAOT) and Buckland (PABL) airports. The two airports also observed gusty, northwesterly winds and reduced visibilities as low as 1/2 of a mile. Blowing snow can be hazardous and impact travel, especially for the aviation industry (and motorists). Refer to the five hour, surface observation animation from 8-9 March 2026. Note, reduced visibilities due to blowing snow were also seen in northeast Alaska, near Deadhorse, AK, (PASC).

Surface Observations from ~21 UTC, 8 March 2026 to ~2 UTC, 9 March 2026

JPSS polar-orbiting satellites observed the blowing snow across northwest Alaska during the afternoon of 8 March 2026. The VIIRS Blowing Snow RGB depicts the blowing snow in light purple-bluish colors with a northwest-to-southeast orientation. In the RGB animation below, the swaths of blowing snow can be seen advecting across sea ice (i.e., over Kotzebue Sound) and snow covered surfaces, moving towards the Alaskan Interior. Note, the RGB can only be utilized during the daytime, as it employs visible and near-infrared channels within its spectra. The RGB has a 375-m spatial resolution.

VIIRS Blowing Snow RGB from ~21 UTC, 8 March 2026 to ~2 UTC, 9 March 2026

During the event, NWS WFO Fairbanks, AK, highlighted the VIIRS RGB on social media, and provided a corresponding photo of the blowing snow (via Buckland Airport – FAA webcam) that was captured at ~22Z, 8 March 2026.

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