Cloud and radiative properties were derived for the southern Great Plains for April 9--May 9, 1996 from GOES-8 to provide a large-scale context for SUCCESS and a dataset for mesoscale modeling of cirrus processes. The analyses indicate that cloudiness over the domain was below normal during April 1996. Thin cirrus with optical depths less than 6 was the predominant cloud type over much of the domain, however, providing a considerable number of measurement opportunities for the suite of SUCCESS instruments. Diurnal variation of cloudiness was substantial over the ARM southern Great Plains central facility. Total albedos were below normal because of the diminished thick cloudiness, while surface temperature and total longwave fluxes were relatively high. The data are on a 0.5¿ grid and are available electronically. ¿ 1998 American Geophysical Union