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-West is pointing mesoscale sector 2 at a point about 105 mi W of Flagstaff, AZ — 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
- 34.9°N, 113.5°W view on map
- Window
- from until
- Reason given
- severe wx ops in Arizona
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
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 210912 ADMSDM SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST NWS ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE NWS CENTRAL OPERATIONS COLLEGE PARK MD 0911Z WED OCT 21 2026 MDS STATUS... GOES-W MDS Sector 2 will be centered over 34.9N/113.5W from 0920Z to 22/1200Z in support of severe wx ops in Arizona. CRITICAL WEATHER DAY STATUS... Critical Weather Day is not expected in the next 3 days. However, the need to support severe weather operations across Arizona today is being monitored. CRITICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK... Wednesday - None. Thursday - None. Friday - None. Kempisty/SDM/NCO