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What do the colours mean on satellite images?

On infrared imagery, the colours refer to the temperature that the satellite is sensing. Colder temperatures appear as brighter shades of white and warmer temperatures appear as darker shades of grey or even black. Therefore, higher clouds, which contain colder water vapour or even ice, will appear brighter than lower clouds, which contain water vapour at higher temperatures. Often, low clouds will not vary in temperature much from the underlying land so it will be difficult to detect them on infrared images.

On visible images, the colour refers to how much visible light is being reflected. Therefore, the thicker the cloud, the more light is reflected, and the brighter the cloud will appear. In this way, low cloud is more visible than high cloud, because it generally tends to be thicker. Therefore, both visible and infrared imagery should be used together to gain the best snapshot of what is happening at any one time. Visible imagery will not be available at night because there is no visible light at this time.

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A very wet weekend for southeast Qld, northeast NSW

11:48 AEST A prolonged rainfall event is set to bring large totals to parts of NSW and Qld from Saturday, with possible heavy falls and flooding. A low-pressure system in the Coral Sea, a deepening coastal trough and persistent easterlies will bring moisture-laden air into southeast Qld and northeast NSW will bring days of rainfall to the region. While there is not a drop of rain on the radar over southeast Qld and Northeast NSW on Friday morning, the mass of cloud associated with a low in the Coral Sea will enhance rainfall over the weekend.