GOES-19 Satellite is down at a bad time: What does this mean?

The GOES-19 weather satellite is down at a critical time for meteorologists across the U.S.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a statement and brief update:

“Engineers report GOES-19 is in a Safehold. They are working to recover the satellite and will share a recovery timeline when available. Engineers are investigating the suspected source of anomaly is the satellite/instrument.”

Satellite data is especially critical during hurricane season. Since there are no radars or weather stations covering the ocean (just occasional buoys), satellites are our first line of defense in detecting tropical waves that could turn into hurricanes.

Satellite data is also key in measuring and forecasting wildfire smoke. With hundreds of fires ongoing in Canada and hazardous air quality extending into the US, the timing of this outage is problematic.

We aren’t totally blind when it comes to satellite data. With no ETA for restoration NOAA will likely move to backup satellites. The good news is that GOES-16 is already operational and in orbit. The bad news is that it can take extended periods of time (up to weeks) to move the satellite into proper positioning.

GOES-18 is another backup that is already transmitting data but the coverage is limited. JPSS satellites are not geostationary, but they provide high-resolution snapshots that can be useful in detecting tropical anomalies and current wildfire smoke coverage.