Colder weather ahead
The low pressure system which brought snow to the area earlier this week continues to move off to the northeast. Behind the system, colder air from central Canada will filter in, bringing drier conditions and mostly sunny skies to Boston. This weekend, a colder plume of Arctic air will swing through New England. As the air mass settles in, highs will sit around the freezing mark and lows should dip below 20°F (-7°C).
This month, NASA and NOAA released their first images from GOES-R, an advanced weather satellite launched last November. The instrument is the first of a series of four satellites expected to revolutionize weather forecasting over the coming years. Orbiting 22,300 miles above Earth’s surface, the satellite captures images over the continental US every 5 minutes. Relative to previous weather satellites, this represents a four-fold increase in spatial resolution and five-fold increase in temporal resolution. From severe weather and hurricanes to wildfires and volcanic eruptions, the new program will continue to provide a wealth of information for forecasters, researchers, and enthusiasts alike. Images are freely available to the public, and make for some spectacular desktop backgrounds.