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Visible Satellite Shows Clouds Lifting

Posted at 4:40 PM, Apr 07, 2013
and last updated 2013-04-07 16:40:17-04

GRAND RAPIDS – Here’s a snapshot you may not see very often. This visible satellite imagery is the sunlight reflecting off the cloud cover. The areas in white/gray are under overcast skies, from Grand Rapids to the north. The areas in black are cloud free. Our southern counties have been scouring out the clouds all afternoon for sunshine, but the last areas to clear will be the northern counties. This image is from 4:30 Sunday afternoon.

Visible imagery is only useable during the day when the sun is out. Once the sun sets, the image goes completely black until sunrise the next day. This type of imagery is useful for fog, exact placement of clouds/clearing lines, and the detection of snow on the ground.

While skies will go clear/partly cloudy this evening and overnight, clouds will thicken up late tonight toward daybreak ahead of our next weather system. This will be an unsettled, active, wet week weatherwise to say the least. In fact, a severe weather outbreak is likely across the deep south (outside of Michigan) by mid-week. I’ll have more on the upcoming weeks forecast this evening. Get our 7-Day forecast, satellite, radar, or temperature maps at www.fox17online.com/weather.