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Thunderstorms across Interior Alaska and the Seward Peninsula

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-17

GOES-17 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-17 (GOES-West) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images (above) showed thunderstorms developing across Interior Alaska and the Seward Peninsula on 01 June 2020. The high satellite viewing angle — 73.6 degrees at Fairbanks — helped to accentuate the rapid ascent/collapse of updrafts in developing thunderstorms.

The corresponding GOES-17 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (below) revealed cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures in the -55 to -59ºC range (brighter shades of yellow).

GOES-17 "Red" Visible (0.64 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-17 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

Suomi NPP VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images at 2123 UTC and 2306 UTC (below) provided a higher-resolution view of the thunderstorms. Cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures were as cold as -65ºC (darker shades of red) at 2306 UTC.

Suomi NPP VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images at 2123 UTC [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images at 2123 UTC [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images at 2306 UTC [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images at 2306 UTC [click to enlarge]

Categories: GOES-17, Suomi NPP, VIIRS