West Coast Weather Forecasts Improve As Satellite Starts Working

PORTLAND, OR – Weather forecasters are the first ones to tell you that they don't get it right all of the time. It's something that they live with every day.

"It's like people assume we want to be "WRONG ALL THE TIME," The National Weather Service's Portland Office wrote on Twitter on Monday. We do our best to provide the most accurate forecast that we can based on the information we have available to us.

"Unfortunately, things don't go the way they though they would. #WeAreOnlyHuman."

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Those forecasters – along with everyone on the West Coast – just got some good news on Tuesday. A new weather satellite is now operational.

The satellite, called GOES-17 but known as GOES West, was launched last year for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

NOAA says that it will be their primary "satellite for detecting and monitoring Pacific storm systems, fog, wildfires, and other weather phenomena that affect the western United States, Alaska, and Hawaii.

It will work in conjunction with GOES-16, also known as GOES East, will provide forecasters with high resolution visible images as well as infrared images.

"Until recently, high-quality data coverage of the Pacific Ocean was sparse," NOAA says. "Now that GOES-17 data is available, however, forecasters have access to more detailed views of high-impact weather systems."

NOAA adds that forecasters will be able to get more data about – and images of – environmental hazards like wildfire smoke and volcanic ash.

They say that this will be particularly helpful when it comes to wildfires, a large problem on the West Coast which is more vulnerable because of the dry climate.

"Providing high-definition images as often as every minute, GOES-17 helps forecasters distribute critical information to firefighters and emergency managers that save lives," NOAA says.

Photo via NOAA.