GOES-8 water vapor image

GOES-8 water vapor image | Java animation

GOES-8 visible image

GOES-8 visible image | Java animation

An intense mesoscale convective system developed along a surface cold front moving southward into the Gulf of Mexico on 08 April 1997. A gravity wave was generated as this convection penetrated into the upper troposphere and past the tropopause.

A well-defined convergence line developed as the westward-propagating high level thunderstorm outflow blocked the ambient southwesterly flow within the upper troposphere, which in turn generated a solitary wave feature. Strong subsidence resulted from this blocking and convergence, which is evident by the thin dark (dry) region on the water vapor image.

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