Overview
- GOES-19/GOES East captured long, parallel cloud bands off the southeastern U.S. on February 1, 2026, and NOAA released the image on February 3.
- An Arctic outbreak pushed frigid, dry air into Florida, setting up the cold-over-warm conditions that produced the formation and prompted freeze warnings deep into the state.
- As the air absorbed heat and moisture from the Gulf and Atlantic, it rose, cooled, and condensed beneath a warm layer aloft, generating horizontal convective rolls.
- A clear gap appeared just offshore because the incoming air needed time over water to gather enough heat and moisture for clouds to develop.
- The bands aligned with the wind and can curl into von Kármán vortex patterns when flow meets obstacles, a behavior well documented in past NASA MODIS imagery.