2 satellite sectors moved
Critical Weather Day CRITICAL WEATHER DAY STATUS...
NWS does not currently expect to declare a Critical Weather Day in the next three days — no unusual operational precautions are planned.
A “Critical Weather Day” is an internal NWS operations posture. When one is declared, NWS postpones scheduled software, hardware and network changes at the affected offices so that nothing is disturbed while forecasters are working high-impact weather. Emergency changes still get made, but they need senior sign-off. It is a signal about how NWS is protecting its own systems — it is not a forecast or a warning, and it does not tell you anything about conditions where you live.
CWD outlook CRITICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK...
Looking three days ahead, NWS does not expect to need a Critical Weather Day — no system change freezes are anticipated.
- Wednesday None
- Thursday None
- Friday None
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 2 at a point about 100 mi NE 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
- 42.6°N, 92.2°W view on map
- Window
- from until
- Reason given
- severe wx ops across MN/WI
GOES-West is pointing mesoscale sector 1 over Mexico, about 320 mi SSE of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico — to keep a close eye on a tropical system. 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
- 18.5°N, 108.4°W view on map
- Window
- from until
- Reason given
- NHC monitoring of Tropical Cyclone Vance
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 280938 ADMSDM SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST NWS ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE NWS CENTRAL OPERATIONS COLLEGE PARK MD 0935Z WED OCT 28 2026 CRITICAL WEATHER DAY STATUS... Critical Weather Day is not expected in the next 3 days. CRITICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK... Wednesday - None. Thursday - None. Friday - None. MDS STATUS... GOES-E MDS Sector 2 will be centered over 42.6N/92.2W from 1200Z to 29/1200Z in support of severe wx ops (SPC Slight Risk) across MN/WI. GOES-W MDS Sector 1 will be centered over 18.5N/108.4W from 1800Z to 29/1800Z in support of NHC monitoring of Tropical Cyclone Vance. Churchill/SDM/NCO