VISIT: Meteorological Interpretation Blog

By Lewis Grasso and Jorel Torres VIIRS captures interesting imagery in the Arctic. From 0314 UTC to 1233 UTC, 13 February 2019, VIIRS, on-board NOAA-20 and S-NPP, imaged fascinating features in the Arctic. In particular, imagery from Band I4 (3.74um) with a sub-satellite footprint size of 375-meters captured several features: 1) oscillation of an ice Continue Reading

Observing sea surface temperatures (SSTs) from satellite is an important aspect in weather forecasting for a variety of applications. Applications consist of (but not limited to) forecasting hurricane intensity, sea fog, and convection over the oceans. But remember, oceans are vast, making up ~70% of the Earth’s surface, and more importantly, oceans are remote, where Continue Reading

Areas of snow cover can often lead to areas of persistent fog and low cloudiness under the right conditions.  And determining the areas of fog and low clouds from snow cover can be tricky during the daytime hours.  Here we look at a case from 10 December 2018 over the Midwest the snow cover likely Continue Reading

Day/Night Band (DNB) is apart of 22 spectral channels on the VIIRS instrument, in which VIIRS is on-board S-NPP and NOAA-20 satellites. DNB can assist users in monitoring atmospheric and surface features via emitted and reflected light sources, during the nighttime. Features identified by DNB (but not limited to), span from observing cloud cover, snow cover, Continue Reading

It’s nearing wintertime, and over the North and South Poles, sea ice accretion is occurring. Using RAMMB Slider, users can observe sea ice motion and sea ice breakup, via Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on-board the Suomi-National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP), and NOAA-20 satellites. For unaware users, VIIRS has 22 spectral channels, where 16 Continue Reading

A fire has initiated in western New Mexico, denoted as the Buzzard Fire. Currently, the fire is burning within the Gila National Forest in Catron County, New Mexico. As of this morning, 24 May 2018, the fire has burned 4,500 plus acres. The cause of the fire is unknown and is under investigation. New Mexico Continue Reading

Yesterday, 17 April 2018, there was a large dust storm that occurred in the state of Colorado. The dust storm initiated due to dry and and very windy conditions, originating from the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, near Alamosa, Colorado. Throughout the afternoon, visibility was quite low, in portions of the state. Check Continue Reading

Over the weekend, there have been several wildfires in western Oklahoma. The US Drought Monitor , as of 12 April 2018, has Oklahoma experiencing extreme and exceptional drought conditions. Refer to the US drought monitor image of Oklahoma, below.   The fires in Oklahoma have burned over 300,000 acres as of 16 April 2018. Using the Continue Reading

The Faka-Union Fire, located in southwest Florida has burned over 9,000 acres with only 50% containment. The fire is located near the Picayune Strand State Forest. The fire started out as a ‘prescribed burn’ last weekend, but due to erratic weather conditions, started to burn out of control. The smoke and fires have caused temporary Continue Reading

Winter Storm Riley inundated the northeast United States with strong winds, storm surge and high amounts of rain and snow. Current snowfall totals over the northeast can be seen via the National Weather Service – Snowfall Reports web-link.  The screenshot below, shows the snowfall distribution over the northeastern United States, with current snowfall observations (as Continue Reading