2 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 75 mi S of Charleston, WV — 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
- 37.3°N, 81.6°W view on map
- Window
- from until
- Reason given
- severe wx ops over GA/SC/NC
GOES-East is pointing mesoscale sector 2 at a point about 85 mi SW of Kansas City, MO — 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
- 38.4°N, 95.9°W view on map
- Window
- from until
- Reason given
- fire wx ops over the Central Plains
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 180948 ADMSDM SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST NWS ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE NWS CENTRAL OPERATIONS COLLEGE PARK MD 0947Z FRI SEP 18 2026 MDS STATUS... GOES-E MDS Sector 1 will be centered over 37.3N/81.6W from 1200Z to 19/0300Z in support of severe wx ops over GA/SC/NC. GOES-E MDS Sector 2 will be centered over 38.4N/95.9W from 1200Z to 19/1200Z in support of fire wx ops over the Central Plains. Renkevens/SDM/NCO