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Category: Convective Initiation

Using an RGB and LightningCast Probability to monitor convective development

Night Microphysics RGB imagery from the CSPP Geosphere site (link to a very similar animation to the one above) shows a line of tropical cumulus approaching Samoa. There are subtle color changes in that RGB that typically presage convective development (as also shown in this blog post, for example), and as highlighted in the annotated animation below that covers 0830-1230 UTC. The... Read More

Convective initiation in the Nighttime Microphysics RGB

The animation above shows the Nighttime Microphysics RGB (saved from the CSPP Geosphere site) over the islands of American Samoa. (An animated gif is available here). The annotated animation below highlights several features that are typical of convective development detection at night. Low clouds become apparent shortly before 1450 UTC (when they are circled); subsequent color changes in... Read More