Uploaded September 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
GOES-16 Advanced Baseline Imager imagery with Geostationary Lightning Mapper overlay shows lightning activity within Hurricane Ida on Aug. 29, 2021.
Credit: NOAA
GOES-16 Advanced Baseline Imager imagery with Geostationary Lightning Mapper overlay shows lightning activity within Hurricane Ida on Aug. 29, 2021.
Credit: NOAA
![NOAA Shares Flashy First Imagery from GOES-18 Lightning Mapper
The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) instrument, onboard NOAA’s GOES-18 satellite, is now providing striking lightning observations of the Western Hemisphere. GOES-18 launched on March 1, 2022.
GLM detects and maps total lightning—in-cloud, cloud-to-cloud, and cloud-to-ground—continuously over the Americas and adjacent ocean regions. GLM offers insights beyond the presence of a lightning strike, revealing the extent of lightning flashes and the distance they travel.
Rapid increases in total lightning activity often precede severe and tornadic thunderstorms. Characterizing lightning activity in storms allows forecasters to identify intensifying storms before they produce damaging winds, hail or tornadoes. GLM data enable forecasters to detect electrically active storms, determine the extent of the lightning threat, identify strengthening and weakening storms, monitor storm evolution, and supplement radar data where coverage is poor.
Learn more:
https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/noaa-shares-flashy-first-imagery-goes-18-lightning-mapper
Credits:
NOAA
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
CIRA
Lockheed Martin
CISESS - UMD
Los Alamos National Laboratory
B-roll provided by Artbeats
Music:
“Is It A Sine,” by Frederick George Alan Prest [PRS]; Ninja Tune Production Music; Universal Production Music NOAA Shares Flashy First Imagery from GOES-18 Lightning Mapper](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lgvz4_qG7i8/mqdefault.jpg)

![Violent Storms Tear Through the South
Severe storms that began rolling through the southern U.S. on Friday, March 24, 2023 left a path of devastation from Texas to the Mid-Atlantic through March 28, which included high winds, hail, flooding, and tornadoes.
Read more:
https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/violent-storms-tear-through-the-south
Credits:
NOAA
NASA
CIRA
Additional imagery courtesy of CIMSS and SSEC
Music:
“At the Tipping Point” by Alexius Tschallener [SUISA], Max Burn [SUISA] and Sarah Tanner [SUISA]; Nuvotone Publishing; Universal Production Music Violent Storms Tear Through the South](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/m-0U8PV99m4/mqdefault.jpg)

![2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season Wraps Up
NOAA satellites constantly monitor the ocean for tropical activity. As the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season comes to a close on Nov. 30, we’re looking back at its above-average activity, with a record breaking ramp up following a peak-season lull.
So far, eighteen tropical depressions have formed, and all of them were named storms. Eleven storms became hurricanes, of which five strengthened into major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale). Of those storms, five made landfall in the continental U.S., with two making landfall as major hurricanes. Although the season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, tropical and subtropical cyclone formation can occur at any time.
Read more:
https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/2024-atlantic-hurricane-season-wraps
Credits:
NOAA
NASA
CIRA
Music: “Memory” by William Kingswood [ASCAP]; Killer Tracks; Universal Production Music 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season Wraps Up](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mOC8HaDECq8/mqdefault.jpg)

![More Heavy Rain, Snow, and Wind Hitting Western U.S.
After tracking round after round of atmospheric rivers dropping heavy rain across the West Coast this year, NOAA satellites observed a new atmospheric river that began impacting the water-logged state on March 19, 2023.
Read more:
https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/more-heavy-rain-snow-and-wind-hitting-western-us
Credits:
NOAA
NASA
CIRA
Flood map imagery courtesy of SSEC.
Music:
“Mirage” by Ben Niblett [PRS] and Jonathan David Cotton [PRS]; Chappell Recorded Music Library Ltd; Universal Production Music More Heavy Rain, Snow, and Wind Hitting Western U.S.](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nEW3khV1-Pc/mqdefault.jpg)

![NOAA Releases Initial Imagery from the GOES-19 Lightning Mapper
The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) instrument, onboard NOAA’s GOES-19 satellite, is now continuously observing lightning over the Western Hemisphere. GOES-19 launched on June 25, 2024. GLM detects and maps total lightning—in-cloud, cloud-to-cloud, and cloud-to-ground—continuously over the Americas and adjacent ocean regions. GLM offers insights beyond the presence of a lightning strike, revealing the spatial and temporal extent of lightning flashes.
Recently, the GOES-19 GLM detected and monitored lightning activity in two extremely hazardous hurricanes. On Sept. 24, 2024, GLM observed widespread lightning as a cluster of thunderstorms in the western Caribbean Sea consolidated into Tropical Storm Helene. Continuous lightning in the outer rain bands was accompanied by occasional eyewall lightning, as Hurricane Helene rapidly intensified in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
Frequent lightning completely enveloped the eyewall as the storm intensified further on its final approach to the Florida coastline. Away from the storm center, GLM helped identify the most intense thunderstorms most likely to produce tornadoes.
Credits:
NOAA
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
CIRA
Lockheed Martin
CISESS - UMD
B-roll provided by Artbeats
Music:
“Movimento” by Max Cameron Concors [ASCAP]; Hypersonic Music; Universal Production Music NOAA Releases Initial Imagery from the GOES-19 Lightning Mapper](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ngn7rpqaw5E/mqdefault.jpg)
![A Look Back at Debby
Throughout last week, NOAA satellites monitored Debby, a storm that struck Florida’s Big Bend region near Steinhatchee before moving up the East Coast where it brought widespread flooding and damaging winds that reached as far north as New York state along with a few destructive tornadoes along the way.
Learn more:
https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/look-back-debby
Credits:
NOAA
NASA
CIRA
Music:
“Introspection” by Adam Salkeld [PRS]; Nova Production Music Ltd [PRS]; Universal Production Music A Look Back at Debby](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/noPQu7UP7w8/mqdefault.jpg)
