VISIT: Meteorological Interpretation Blog

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

The Park Fire in California initiated two weeks ago and portions of the fire perimeter are still ablaze at the time of this blog entry. As of 7 August 2024, the Park Fire has burned 420,000 plus acres and is only 34% percent contained (per InciWeb). The JPSS SNPP VIIRS Day Fire RGB and the Continue Reading

Over the past few weeks, fires have erupted and spewed high concentrations of smoke over western Canada and the United States. To exacerbate the situation, more fires initiated recently in the western U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast Offices (WFO) highlighted the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) – Smoke products on social media to warn Continue Reading

Another summer and another round of wildfires and smoke that inundate the Canadian provinces and territories. From 19-21Z, 17 July 2024, VIIRS GeoColor observed the smoke and fires extending from British Columbia to Hudson Bay. A daytime animation of VIIRS overpasses from SNPP, NOAA-20, and NOAA-21 can be seen below.   At ~09Z 18 July Continue Reading

A powerful geomagnetic storm transpired over the Lower-48 during the weekend of 11-13 May 2024. The sun produced coronal mass injections that impacted the Earth, creating auroras (a.k.a., northern lights) that were seen across the globe. Within CONUS, the auroras were visible as far south as Florida, Texas, and Alabama: locations where the northern lights are typically Continue Reading

During March 2024, NOAA-21 was declared the primary satellite of the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). In early April 2024, NOAA-20 (newly designated as the secondary satellite) completed its orbital shift placing NOAA-20 a half-orbit (~50 minutes) a part from NOAA-21. The tertiary satellite, SNPP, is now positioned a quarter-orbit between NOAA-21 and NOAA-20. A 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

Per NOAA Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO), the last requirement was fulfilled to declare NOAA-21 operational and as the secondary satellite of the JPSS constellation. As of 3 November 2023, the three existing JPSS satellites are now designated in the following order: Primary – NOAA-20, Secondary – NOAA-21, and Tertiary – SNPP. This Continue Reading

Over the past week, fires were raging in the country of Bolivia. Numerous fires were observed by the GOES-16 geostationary satellite, and were spotted across the country. The largest fires were seen in central Bolivia, specifically located northwest of the city of Santa Cruz. On 22 October 2023, the GOES-16 ABI Day Fire RGB, which Continue Reading