Satellite image of the month

July 2024 - Hurricane Beryl

8 July 2024

Two simultaneous satellite views of Hurricane Beryl were captured at 13:30 UTC on 8th July, shortly after it made landfall in Texas. Earlier in the month Beryl had developed to a Category 5 Hurricane causing devastation across the Caribbean. At the time of this image Beryl had reorganised to a Category 1 Hurricane, having previously weakened to a Tropical Storm. Its early-season strength was unprecedented, making Beryl the earliest Category 5 Hurricane to form in the Atlantic on record. On average, the first major hurricane (Category 3 or above) does not form until 1st September, according to the National Hurricane Center in the United States. 

Credits:  Image: © Crown copyright, Met Office; Data: NOAA/NASA

 

June 2024 - Mediterranean Dust Plume

18 June 2024

This ‘true colour’ image from NOAA-20, a polar-orbiting satellite operated by NOAA/NASA depicts a large Saharan dust plume travelling over the Western Mediterranean, passing Sardinia and heading towards Italy. This dust has been lifted from the desert by a large storm in Northern Africa. To the east of the image a phytoplankton bloom is visible in the Black Sea. The bright stripe across the centre of the image results from sun-glint, which occurs when the sun's rays are reflected directly to the satellite by the sea's surface.

Credits: Image: © Crown copyright, Met Office, Data: NOAA/NASA.

 

May 2024 - Phytoplankton bloom and contrails in Atlantic

11 May 2024

NOAA-21 captures partially clear skies over the Eastern Atlantic, near Brittany and Cornwall. The vivid blue feature west of Brittany is identified as a phytoplankton bloom, which consists of microscopic algae accumulated near the ocean's surface. Closer to Cornwall and over the English Channel, numerous aircraft contrails are visible.

Credits:  Image: © Crown copyright, Met Office; Data: NOAA/NASA

 

April 2024 - Total Solar Eclipse

8 April 2024

On 8^th April, a total solar eclipse traversed parts of North America, plunging regions of Mexico, the USA, and Canada into darkness. This false-colour image from the NOAA/NASA operated GOES-East shows the area of totality as a dark patch. At the time of this image (18:30 UTC) the eclipse was over the border between Mexico and USA.

Credits:  Image: © Crown copyright, Met Office; Data: NOAA/NASA

 

March 2024 - Severe weather impacts in Afghanistan

14 March 2024

A false-color satellite image from EUMETSAT's Metop-C polar-orbiting satellite reveals extensive snow cover across Afghanistan in February, appearing in a bright cyan colour. Following a dry start to the year, the region experienced weeks of heavy rain and snow resulting in significant damage and destruction throughout the country. Although it is typical for snow to blanket Afghanistan's mountainous regions during this season, the severity of the snowfall and rainfall was greater than normal.

Credits:  Image: © Crown copyright, Met Office; Data: EUMETSAT

 

February 2024 - Tropical Storm Akará

19 February 2024

Tropical Storm Akará formed off the Brazilian coast in February. This is a rare event as tropical storms do not often form in the South Atlantic. The last such storm was in 2019. This is a visible image from NOAA/NASA’s GOES-East geostationary satellite.

Credits:  Image: © Crown copyright, Met Office; Data: NOAA/NASA

 

January 2024 - UK named storms Isha and Jocelyn

21 January 2024

In the latter half of January, the UK experienced two successive named storms. Influenced by a strong jet stream, these storms had widespread impacts across the country. This satellite image from 14:00 UTC on 21^st January shows Isha approaching the UK, while Jocelyn develops in the Western Atlantic. It is a composite of two visible channel images from different geostationary satellites at 36,000 km above the Earth: EUMETSAT’s Meteosat-10 and NOAA/NASA’s GOES-East. More detail on these storms can be found on the Met Office Storm Centre pages.

Credits: Image: © Crown copyright, Met Office; Data: NOAA/NASA (LHS) and EUMETSAT (RHS)