30-second GOES-16 imagery of rapidly-developing severe thunderstorms over the Midwest
GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images, with time-matched SPC Storm Reports plotted in red [click to play animation | MP4]
The corresponding 30-second GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images are shown below.
GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images, with time-matched SPC Storm Reports plotted in cyan [click to play animation | MP4]
![VIIRS Visible image with available NUCAPS soundings + Gridded NUCAPS Most-Unstable CAPE [click to enlarge]](https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/images/2020/04/200428_1925utc_viirs_visible_nucaps_mucape_anim.gif)
NOAA-20 VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm) image with available NUCAPS sounding points + Gridded NUCAPS Most-Unstable CAPE [click to enlarge]
Farther to the south, the NUCAPS profile for the yellow (using only Microwave retrievals) sounding point (located east-southeast of KCNU) is shown below — for the Most Unstable air parcel, calculated CAPE was 3714 J/kg, with a Lifted Index of -14ºC.
The closest rawinsonde report (in terms of time and distance) was from Springfield in southwestern Missouri at 18 UTC (below) — it indicated Most Unstable CAPE and Lifted Index values of 3060 J/kg and -6ºC, respectively. The later availability of NUCAPS soundings closer to the region of convective initiation revealed the rapid atmospheric destabilization that allowed for explosive development of the severe thunderstorms as seen on GOES-16 imagery.