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Melting snow cover across the High Plains and Midwest

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-16

GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and Day Cloud Phase Distinction Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images (above) revealed the rapid melting of parts of a broad swath of fresh snow cover (green in the RGB images) across the High Pains and Midwest on 17 April 2020. The snow melted quickly in central Nebraska (where storm totals were generally less than 4 inches), but persisted in the Foothills of Colorado (where storm totals amounts of 10-20 inches were common).

A closer look at the eastern segment of the snow cover over eastern Nebraska, southern Iowa and northern Missouri (below) showed the effect of snow-cooled surfaces on suppressing the formation of cumulus clouds as diurnal heating increased into the afternoon hours. Surface air temperatures warmed into the upper 40s to low 50s F in areas where the snow melted — but were held in the upper 30s to low 40s F where deeper snow cover existed near the Iowa/Missouri border (where storm total amounts were as high as 12-16 inches).

GOES-16 Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]

Categories: GOES-16, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images, Winter weather