Semi-Truck/School Bus Collision in Fog in Southeast North Dakota

By Scott Lindstrom • 25 September 2015

GOES-13 Visible (0.63 µm) imagery and surface observations of visibility; Richland County is outlined [click to play animation]

Three Semi-Truck/Trailers collided with a school bus in fog in Richland County North Dakota just before 9 AM CDT (1400 UTC) on 25 September 2015. The GOES-13 Visible animation, above, shows an eroding fog bank over southeastern North Dakota. Richland County is outlined in the imagery. The school bus was traveling on Highway 46, which hugs the northern border of Richland County; the accident was about 3 miles west of Interstate 29 (Press Report 1 ; Press Report 2).

Suomi NPP VIIRS “fog/stratus product” IR brightness temperature difference images [click to enlarge]

During the preceding nighttime hours, Suomi NPP VIIRS “fog/stratus product” IR brightness temperature difference images at 0756 UTC (2:56 am CDT) and 0937 UTC (4:37 am CDT), above, showed an increasing signal of fog/stratus – yellow to red color  enhancement – over the region during that time period (when surface visibilities also began to rapidly decrease at Wahpeton KBWP, the county seat of Richland County).

GOES-R IFR Probability fields, 1300-1515 UTC on 25 September 2015 [click to play animation]

GOES-R IFR Probability fields, above, around the time of the accident, showed a high probability of IFR Conditions over southeast North Dakota. High values were present over the area before sunrise (Sunrise in Fargo on 25 September is at 1318 UTC). Values at 1400 UTC show largest values over northern and western Richland County. The Low IFR Probabilty field for 1400 UTC, below, immediately after the time of the crash, shows a maximum across northern Richland County where the accident occurred.

GOES-R Low IFR Probability field, 1400 UTC on 25 September 2015 [click to enlarge]

Categories: Fog detection, GOES-13, Suomi NPP, VIIRS