VISIT: Meteorological Interpretation Blog

by Sheldon Kusselson

Fires have engulfed Southern California over the past few weeks, where another fire (i.e., the Hughes Fire) erupted just northwest of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. At the time of this blog entry (~22Z, 23 January 2025), the fire had scorched 10,000+ acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties and was 24% contained. Dangerous fire Continue Reading

On the morning of 6 November 2024, the Mountain Fire erupted, and fueled by strong winds, the fire spread southwestward towards cities located along the California coastline. The GOES-18 GeoColor product (see below) observed the fire and the corresponding smoke plumes from ~18-21Z, 6 November 2024. The narrow, long, smoke plumes advected westward offshore and Continue Reading

During mid-April 2024, unprecedented flooding occurred in the Middle East, specifically in the countries of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman. Over the course of a few days, a series of storms produced significant precipitation totals that pummeled the region, which led to extensive flooding that shut down schools, grounded or diverted flights, and Continue Reading

Fires erupted over the Texas Panhandle during the last week of February 2024. The fires burned over 1+ million acres, where the Smokehouse Creek Fire became the largest fire in Texas state history. Videos of the fires and drone footage of the destruction were vast. Geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites captured the event over the course Continue Reading

Over the past week, the northeastern United States was inundated with smoke that was produced from fires raging in the Canadian province of Quebec. On the backside (i.e., west side) of a lingering upper-level low, wildfire smoke transported hundreds of miles southward and southeastward toward the northeastern U.S. New York City, NY, along with other cities in Continue Reading

By Bernie Connell and Erin Sanders Sun glint is an optical phenomenon that can be seen in visible and near-IR satellite imagery over water features such as ocean, lakes, and rivers.  Its presence depends on the geometry between Sun, Earth, and satellite viewing angle.  When sunlight is reflected off water features towards the satellite sensor Continue Reading

By Ed Szoke and Jorel Torres On 12 Feb 2020 a strong cold front pushed southward across the Northern Plains and Midwest bringing dramatically colder temperatures and howling northerly winds, creating widespread blowing snow and blizzard conditions during the daytime hours of 12 Feb.  While dramatic, such conditions are not unusual for the Northern Plains, Continue Reading

The Swan Lake Fire, located in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, south of Anchorage, AK initiated in June 2019 due to lightning. Over the past few months, the fire has steadily grown, and as of 20 August 2019, more than 130,000 acres have burned. To get a close look at the fire refer to the following Continue Reading

Satellite fog monitoring during the nighttime can be a challenge since geostationary datasets are limited to infrared imagery. However, with the new GOES-16/17 and JPSS datasets users can employ polar-orbiting and geostationary imagery to identify and monitor areas of fog and low stratus (a.k.a liquid water clouds). As meteorologists, we know that fog can significantly Continue Reading