3 satellite sectors moved
Satellite moves MDS STATUS...
Each GOES weather satellite has two “mesoscale sectors” — small, movable windows that the satellite photographs roughly every 60 seconds, far more often than its routine full-disk and continental scans. Forecasters aim them at whatever is most important that day. This section announces where they are being pointed and for how long.
GOES-East is pointing mesoscale sector 1 at a point about 50 mi W of Indianapolis, IN — to support severe thunderstorm and tornado forecasting. That means this patch of sky gets a fresh satellite image about once a minute instead of every 5 to 10 minutes, so forecasters can watch storms develop almost in real time.
- Centre point
- 39.7°N, 87.1°W view on map
- Window
- from until
- Reason given
- severe wx ops over the upper midwest
GOES-East is pointing mesoscale sector 2 at a point about 100 mi SE of Rapid City, SD — to support severe thunderstorm and tornado forecasting. That means this patch of sky gets a fresh satellite image about once a minute instead of every 5 to 10 minutes, so forecasters can watch storms develop almost in real time.
- Centre point
- 43.1°N, 101.7°W view on map
- Window
- from until
- Reason given
- severe wx ops over the northern plains
GOES-West is pointing mesoscale sector 1 at a point about 50 mi SE of Grand Junction, CO — to support fire weather operations. That means this patch of sky gets a fresh satellite image about once a minute instead of every 5 to 10 minutes, so forecasters can watch storms develop almost in real time.
- Centre point
- 38.5°N, 108.0°W view on map
- Window
- from until
- Reason given
- fire severe wx ops over the Four Corners area and Rockies
Show the original message
Exactly as NWS transmitted it. Everything above is our plain-English reading of this text — if the two ever disagree, this is the authoritative version.
000 NOUS42 KWNO 091449 ADMSDM SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST NWS ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE NWS CENTRAL OPERATIONS COLLEGE PARK MD 1448Z SUN AUG 09 2026 MDS STATUS... GOES-E MDS Sector 1 will be centered over 39.7N/87.1W from 1500Z to 10/0700Z in support of severe wx ops over the upper midwest. GOES-E MDS Sector 2 will be centered over 43.1N/101.7W from 1500Z to 10/0700Z in support of severe wx ops over the northern plains. GOES-W MDS Sector 1 will be centered over 38.5N/108W from 1500Z to 10/1200Z in support of fire severe wx ops over the Four Corners area and Rockies. Renkevens/SDM/NCO