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Subtropical cyclone formation off the coast of Chile

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-16

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images, with hourly plots of surface weather [click to play MP4 animation]

A very unusual subtropical cyclone formed off the coast of Chile during the 07-08 May 2018 period (Weather Channel | Weather Underground). The system transitioned from a typical cold core baroclinic mid-latitude cyclone to a shallow warm core cyclone with some deep convection around the center of circulation. GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (above) showed the evolution from 06 May to 09 May. The surface report plotted in the lower right corner of the images is Concepción, Chile.

A Suomi NPP VIIRS True-color Red-Green-Blue (RGB) image viewed using RealEarth (below) depicted the circulation once it had drifted to a position northwest of Santiago, Chile at 1839 UTC on 08 May.

Suomi NPP VIIRS Ttue-color RGB image [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS Ttue-color RGB image [click to enlarge]

The hourly MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product (below) initially showed a long ribbon of subtropical moisture which was being transported ahead of a cold front into the baroclinic low on 05 May — then during the transition to a subtropical low, a small pocket of modest TPW migrated slowly northward  with the surface circulation.

MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product [click to play animation | MP4]

MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product [click to play animation | MP4]

Categories: GOES-16, RealEarth, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images, Suomi NPP, Tropical cyclones, VIIRS