27 July 1999 -- Lifted Index Shows Instability Over The Great Plains

(- Java animation at 1 hour intervals -)

The hourly stability products derived from temperature/moisture profiles based on GOES-8/10 sounder successfully captured the region of instability in the Great Plains over the course of July 27, 1999. Note the convection forming over the center of instability over the Dakotas. Numerous severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings were subsequently issued as a result of these storms.

These links will take you to the GOES Derived Products within this page.
Here you will find GIF images and FLI animations:
Lifted Index | Precipitable Water | CAPE | Cloud Top Pressure

Lifted Index Derived From The GOES Sounders

FLI

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GOES Sounder LI stability with accompanying radiosonde values

Lifted Index from 12Z 27 July and 00Z 28 July show high correlation (0.93) between sounder derived values and radiosonde reported values. The GOES Sounder can provide a picture of what happens between radiosondes (in space and time), as evidenced in the 20Z GOES Sounder Lifted Index image.

Eta Model Lifted Index Products and Severe Weather

Numerous severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings were issued with these storms. The warnings, valid between 20 and 22 UTC, have been over-plotted on the sounder Lifted Index image from 19 UTC (July 27, 1999). The 06-hr Eta forecast (from the 12 UTC run) also captured the region of large instability over the central Dakotas. The Eta forecast of the parcel LI is over-plotted on the sounder Lifted Index from 18 UTC (July 27, 1999). The 12-hr Eta forecast (from the 12 UTC run) also captured the region of large instability over Minnesota. The Eta forecast of the parcel LI is over-plotted on the sounder Lifted Index from 00 UTC (July 28, 1999).

Total Precipitable Water Vapor Derived From The GOES-8 And GOES-10 Sounders

Combined GOES-8/10 Coverage

FLI

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Entire conterminous US

FLI

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Entire conterminous US with Radiosondes

The 12 UTC GOES PW DPI for July 27, 1999 and the 00 UTC GOES PW DPI for July 28, 1999 are shown here with their corresponding 12 and 00 UTC radiosonde values of total precipitable water vapor (in mm) and 850 mb wind flags. The winds have been included to provide a sense of the mean lower level flow pattern which strongly impacts the transport of the PW.