Operational Use of GOES-16 at WFO Pueblo

GOES-16, the first in a series of four next-generation geostationary weather satellites, successfully launched on 19 November 2016. Imagery from the GOES-16 Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) began flowing into NWS offices in March 2017, with derived products, channel differences, and RGB’s becoming available in the following months. National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters have since been integrating the newly available satellite data into their daily forecast routine. The detection and tracking of various atmospheric phenomena common to the Rocky Mountain Front Range and adjacent plains has been improved through the use of GOES-16 data. Examples include severe convection, flash flooding on burn scars, wildfires, and low clouds and fog. The value of GOES-16 in situations of poor to no radar coverage in southern Colorado has also been realized. This presentation provides an early look at the operational use of GOES-16 ABI data at the Pueblo, Colorado, NWS forecast office.