GOES-R IFR Probabilities, and ceiling/visibility observations, at 2-hourly intervals from 0615 UTC through 1415 UTC on 2 January 2013.

GOES-R IFR Probabilities show the movement of a region with IFR and near-IFR conditions, initially over southwest Minnesota and extreme northwest Iowa, northeastward towards the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area on 2 January 2013.  The deepest red colors in that region correspond to IFR probabilities around 94%, in contrast to the values over central Minnesota that are closer to 80%.  As the region of higher probabilities approaches the Twin Cities, ceilings and visibilities lower.  Tracking the motion of the highest probabilities can be an excellent method to make a short-term forecast of flight conditions.