Water Vapor

Here is a water vapor picture. A special camera on the satellite can take pictures of the tiny water drops in the atmosphere. The gray areas are areas where there is a lot of water. The dark areas are where there is little water in the air.

Current Water Vapor Satellite Image

You Can click on the picture below to see the full resolution. 
This picture was taken from space less than 30 minutes ago!!

Meteorologists use this type of imagery to track disturbances in the jet stream and to track the jet stream itself!

 Notice how easy it is too see large low pressure storm centers with this type of imagery.

The dry air is usually caused by sinking air that is compressed and warmed. Look at the time stamp on the picture, it will tell you when was it taken??

Hint: subtract 6 hours from GMT time for Central USA time. Also Meteorologists use a 24 hour clock. All scientist use Greenwich Mean Time (Z time) This is the time in Greenwich England.