Hail damage swath in South Dakota and Minnesota
![SPC storm report plots, from 12 UTC on 21 June to 12 UTC on 22 June 2017 [click to go to SPC storm reports list]](http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/170621_rpts.gif)
SPC storm report plots, from 12 UTC on 21 June to 12 UTC on 22 June 2017 [click to go to SPC storm reports list]
As seen on the map of SPC storm reports from 21 June 2017 (above), nighttime thunderstorms (during the pre-dawn hours of 22 June) produced a swath of hail (as large as 2.0 inches in diameter) that damaged emerging crops at some locations across eastern South Dakota and southwestern Minnesota (NWS Aberdeen summary).
Nearly 2 weeks later, on 04 July, the hail damage swath was still apparent on GOES-16 imagery. In a comparison of “Blue” Visible (0.47 µm), “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and Near-Infrared “Vegetation” (0.86 µm ) images (below), the northwest-to-southeast oriented hail damage swath was best seen on the 0.64 µm imagery (in part due to its higher spatial resolution, which is 0.5 km at satellite sub-point); healthy vegetation is more reflective at 0.86 µm, so the crop-damaged hail swath appears slightly darker in those images.
GOES-16 “Blue” Visible (0.47 µm, top), “Red” Visible (0.64 µm, middle) and Near-Infrared “Vegetation” (0.86 µm, bottom) images [click to play animation]
GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm, top), Snow/Ice (1.61 µm, middle) and Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, bottom) images [click to play animation]
![Spectral Response Functions for GOES-16 ABI Bands 3, 4, 5 and 6, along with the reflectance of asphalt, dirt, grass and snow [click to enlarge]](https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/07/SRF_grass_B3456.jpeg)
Spectral Response Functions for GOES-16 ABI Bands 3, 4, 5 and 6, along with the reflectance of asphalt, dirt, grass and snow [click to enlarge]
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Regarding the warmer temperatures seen on GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared images, the 1-km resolution Aqua MODIS Land Surface Temperature product at 1738 UTC (above) revealed a 10º F difference between the warmer hail damage swath (which appeared to be about 100 miles in length) and adjacent fields of undamaged crops. A similar result was noted on 03 July by NWS Aberdeen (below).
Monitoring for fires using GOES-16 and noted area ~10F warmer than surroundings – dry/dead crops from the 6/22 Castlewood hailstorm #SDWX pic.twitter.com/d2AeYos84W
— NWS Aberdeen (@NWSAberdeen) July 4, 2017
A comparison of before (21 June) and after (02 July) Aqua MODIS true-color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) images from the SSEC MODIS Direct Broadcast site (below) clearly shows the hail damage path.
![Aqua MODIS true-color RGB images, before (21 June) and after (02 July) the hail event [click to enlarge]](https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/07/170621_170702_aqua_modis_truecolor_SD_MN_hail_swath_before_after_anim.gif)
Aqua MODIS true-color RGB images, before (21 June) and after (02 July) the hail event [click to enlarge]
Meant to share this a while ago. Sentinel 2A passed over the area 7/2/17. Zoomed to Castlewood. Hires: https://t.co/9edCkrqXob #sdwx #mnwx pic.twitter.com/vqkSs4og6f
— Carl Jones (@northflwx) July 13, 2017
===== 07 July Update =====
The hail damage swath was also evident on a 30-meter resolution Landsat-8 false-color RGB image from 07 July:
Other examples of satellite-observed hail damage swaths can be seen here and here.