diff --git a/pyglance/glance/exconfig.py b/pyglance/glance/exconfig.py
index e4548b25782a3bd2bdc8315a583f4fe65f49d707..5286c75e60cf8751509376a3eb24eae9babeda73 100644
--- a/pyglance/glance/exconfig.py
+++ b/pyglance/glance/exconfig.py
@@ -46,8 +46,6 @@ lat_lon_info['data_filter_function_lon_in_b'] = (insert lambda function here)
 lat_lon_info['data_filter_function_lat_in_b'] = (insert lambda function here)
 """
 # this value can be used to control how similar the longitude and latitude must be to be considered matching
-# if all of your longitude and latitude do not match under this epsilon, most of the comparison report will
-# not be generated, since the data would not correlate spatially
 # Note: this value is only intended to allow you to avoid very small floating point errors that would make glance
 # think that your data is disparate, when really it is very close together. If you put a large epsilon in here
 # the various comparison plots may contain misleading data
@@ -114,7 +112,7 @@ setOfVariables['Total Totals'] = {           # the key of your variable entry wi
                                                                         # on amount of non-finite data
                                                                         # note, this setting overrides the default
                                   
-                                    'display_ranges':         [13.0,   14.0,  15.0,  20.0,  32.0,  40.0,  54.0,  60.0],
+                                  'display_ranges':         [13.0,   14.0,  15.0,  20.0,  32.0,  40.0,  54.0,  60.0],
                                                                         # this array of ranges can be defined in order to control
                                                                         # a custom display of color ranges in any graphs produced
                                                                         # for this variable, ranges will fall between the numbers
@@ -132,10 +130,16 @@ setOfVariables['Total Totals'] = {           # the key of your variable entry wi
                                                                         # TODO In the future this array may have the ability to
                                                                         # let you label your ranges (ie, the space between two
                                                                         # boundaries) or your boundaries.
+                                                                        
+                                  'display_colors': ('m',    'b',   'c',   'r',   'k',   'y',   'g'),
+                                                                        # the colors that should be used to display the ranges
+                                                                        # color definition information can be found at
+                                                                        # http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/api/colors_api.html
                                   
                                   # data filters can be defined/overridden on a variable by variable basis
 #                                  'data_filter_function_a': (insert lambda function here), # note: will only be applied to file A data
 #                                  'data_filter_function_b': (insert lambda function here)  # note: will only be applied to file B data
+                                  
                                   }
 setOfVariables['Total Precipitable Water, High'] = {
                                   'variable_name': 'imager_prof_retr_abi_total_precipitable_water_high',
diff --git a/pyglance/glance/plot.py b/pyglance/glance/plot.py
index 74f4f444a0d281439a9d9d45acf9d1324a1e1d22..6fe5028fbee12edee635f062ed19b098ee7838a4 100644
--- a/pyglance/glance/plot.py
+++ b/pyglance/glance/plot.py
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ def _clean_lon_or_lat_with_mask(lon_or_lat_data, invalid_data_mask):
 # set on the existing image
 def _create_mapped_figure(data, latitude, longitude, title,
                           invalidMask=None, colorMap=None, tagData=None,
-                          dataRanges=None, dataRangeNames=None) :
+                          dataRanges=None, dataRangeNames=None, dataRangeColors=None) :
     
     # make a clean version of our lon/lat
     latitudeClean  = _clean_lon_or_lat_with_mask(latitude,  invalidMask)
@@ -222,6 +222,7 @@ def _create_mapped_figure(data, latitude, longitude, title,
             dataRanges[0] = dataRanges[0] - offsetToRange
             dataRanges[len(dataRanges) - 1] = dataRanges[len(dataRanges) - 1] + offsetToRange
         kwargs['levelsToUse'] = dataRanges
+        kwargs['colors'] = dataRangeColors # add in the list of colors (may be None)
     
     # if we've got a color map, pass it to the list of things we want to tell the plotting function
     if not (colorMap is None) :
@@ -496,7 +497,10 @@ def plot_and_save_figure_comparison(aData, bData,
         dataRanges = variableRunInfo['display_ranges']
     dataRangeNames = None
     if ('display_range_names' in variableRunInfo) : 
-        dataRangeNames = variableRunInfo['display_range_names'] 
+        dataRangeNames = variableRunInfo['display_range_names']
+    dataColors = None
+    if ('display_colors' in variableRunInfo) :
+        dataColors = variableRunInfo['display_colors'] 
     
     # from this point on, we will be forking to create child processes so we can parallelize our image and
     # report generation
@@ -512,7 +516,8 @@ def plot_and_save_figure_comparison(aData, bData,
                                                                     (variableDisplayName + "\nin File A"),
                                                                     invalidMask=(~goodInAMask),
                                                                     dataRanges=dataRanges,
-                                                                    dataRangeNames=dataRangeNames)),
+                                                                    dataRangeNames=dataRangeNames,
+                                                                    dataRangeColors=dataColors)),
                                     "\t\tsaving image of " + variableDisplayName + " for file a",
                                     outputPath + "/" + variableName + ".A.png",
                                     outputPath + "/" + variableName + ".A.small.png",
@@ -527,7 +532,8 @@ def plot_and_save_figure_comparison(aData, bData,
                                                                     (variableDisplayName + "\nin File B"),
                                                                     invalidMask=(~ goodInBMask),
                                                                     dataRanges=dataRanges,
-                                                                    dataRangeNames=dataRangeNames)),
+                                                                    dataRangeNames=dataRangeNames,
+                                                                    dataRangeColors=dataColors)),
                                     "\t\tsaving image of " + variableDisplayName + " for file b",
                                     outputPath + "/" + variableName + ".B.png",
                                     outputPath + "/" + variableName + ".B.small.png",