Satellite Images Infra-Red . Water Vapor . USA Today . WeatherPages Live Cams .
Clouds appear very detailed.
The bright white areas represent the highest cloud-tops where the heaviest precipitation is located. One drawback is that visible satellite pictures are only useful during the daytime, because clouds are not visible without the sun, and the picture is black at night. Although it does not provide as much detail as the visible picture, it is very useful because clouds can be seen at any time of the day or night. Again, the brighter white areas represent higher cloud-tops and heavier precipitation. Instead of using light to take a picture of the cloud-tops, the water vapor satellite is capable of detecting how much moisture is in the clouds.