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Mesoscale Convective System in the Midwest

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-16

GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images, with SPC Storm Reports plotted in red [click to play animation | MP4]

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images (above) displayed a Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) that moved southeast across the Midwestern US on 16 May 2019 (surface analyses), producing a variety of severe weather (SPC storm reports). New convection continued to develop along the MCS outflow boundary, whose western edge was marked by parallel cloud bands from eastern Iowa into northwestern Illinois.

The corresponding GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (below) revealed cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures as cold as -72ºC with some of the overshooting tops.

GOES-16 "Clean" Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images, with SPC Storm Reports plotted in cyan [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images, with SPC Storm Reports plotted in cyan [click to play animation | MP4]

VIIRS Visible and Infrared images from Suomi NPP (at 1808 UTC) and NOAA-20 (at 1858 UTC) (below) revealed packets of concentric storm-top gravity waves, along with overshooting tops exhibiting infrared brightness temperatures as cold as -78ºC.

VIIRS Visible and Infrared images from Suomi NPP (at 1808 UTC) and NOAA-20 (at 1858 UTC) [click to enlarge]

VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images from Suomi NPP (at 1808 UTC) and NOAA-20 (at 1858 UTC) [click to enlarge]

As the MCS approached Madison, Wisconsin it produced a well-defined shelf cloud:

 

Categories: GOES-16, NOAA-20, Severe convection, Suomi NPP, VIIRS