Satellite sector 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 80 mi WNW of Des Moines, IA — 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
- 42.2°N, 94.9°W view on map
- Window
- until
- Reason given
- severe wx ops in the northern/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 090635 ADMSDM SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST NWS ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE NWS CENTRAL OPERATIONS COLLEGE PARK MD 0634Z SUN AUG 09 2026 MDS STATUS... GOES-E MDS Sector 1 will be centered over 42.2N/94.9W until 1200Z in support of severe wx ops (SPC Marginal Risk) in the northern/central plains. Churchill/SDM/NCO