An important tool in weather and climate prediction is computer models, which use information about the current global climate to predict what it will look like in the future. A difficult component of the global climate to accurately incorporate in these models is the impact of clouds on the climate system. It is a goal of the cloud physics and modeling communities to more effectively incorporate clouds into models. We present here a new satellite, PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far InfraRed Experiment), to contribute to this effort. The PREFIRE satellite is the first modern satellite able to measure energy that clouds emit in the far-infrared region, where wavelengths are larger (15-100 μm) than current modern satellites measure. These measurements provide currently unavailable information about cloud processes that may improve cloud representation in climate models. Here, we develop a method to detect thunderstorms using PREFIRE data and then match those detected areas to data from satellites commonly used to monitor weather. We combine the information from these satellites with the new information PREFIRE provides in the far infrared to determine what additional scientific information PREFIRE may be able to provide about the impact clouds have on the climate.