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Hurricane Delta in the Gulf of Mexico

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (with and without an overlay of GLM Flash Extent Density) and “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (with and without an overlay of GLM Flash Extent Density) and “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images — with and without an overlay of GLM Flash Extent Density — and “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images (above) showed showed Hurricane Delta as it intensified from a Category 2 to a Category 3 storm over the Gulf of Mexico during the daytime hours on 08 October 2020. Cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures of -90ºC and colder  (yellow pixels embedded within the darker shades of purple) were occasionally seen within the eyewall region of Delta, along with intermittent bursts of lightning activity.

A toggle between Suomi NPP VIIRS Infrared Window (11.45 µm) and Visible (0.64 µm) images of Hurricane Delta shortly before it intensified to a Category 3 storm are shown below; the coldest cloud-top infrared brightness temperature at that time was -93.0ºC.

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

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

In a time-matched comparison of Infrared images from Suomi NPP and GOES-16 (below), the coldest cloud-top infrared brightness temperature sensed by GOES-16 was 5.6ºC warmer (-87.4ºC); note the small northwestward parallax displacement that is inherent with GOES-16 imagery over the Gulf of Mexico. The same color enhancement is applied to both images.

Infrared images from Suomi NPP and GOES-16 [click to enlarge]

Infrared images from Suomi NPP (11.45 µm) and GOES-16 (10.35 µm) [click to enlarge]

===== 09 October Update =====

Suomi NPP VIIRS Infrared Window (11.45 µm) and Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) images [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS Infrared Window (11.45 µm) and Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) images [click to enlarge]

In a toggle between Suomi NPP VIIRS Infrared Window (11.45 µm) and Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) images at 0734 UTC or 2:34 am CDT on 09 October (above), the coldest cloud-top infrared brightness temperature was -93.8ºC (just northwest of the storm center).

1-minute GOES-16 Infrared and Visible images (below) showed Category 2 Hurricane Delta making landfall in southwestern Louisiana at 2300 UTC, producing wind gusts as high as 100 mph at Texas Point, Texas.

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (with and without an overlay of GLM Flash Extent Density) and “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (with and without an overlay of GLM Flash Extent Density) and “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

The MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product (below) indicated that Hurricane Delta was transporting a large amount of moisture northward across the Gulf of Mexico — rainfall totals included 15.64 inches at Evangeline Gardner, Louisiana.

MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product [click to enlarge]

MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product [click to enlarge]

The MIMIC-TC product (below) showed the deterioration of the eye and eyewall structure as Delta approached the Gulf Coast.

MIMIC-TC product

MIMIC-TC product [click to enlarge]

===== 10 October Update =====

Suomi NPP VIIRS True Color RGB images from 04 and 10 October [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS True Color RGB images from 04 October and 10 October [click to enlarge]

A before (04 October) / after (10 October) comparison of Suomi NPP VIIRS True Color RGB images from the VIIRS Today site (above) revealed a marked increase of turbidity within the more shallow shelf waters of Texas and Louisiana, due to extensive mixing from the wind field associated with Delta. A comparison of VIIRS False Color images from those 2 days (below) highlighted inland areas with significant flooding that resulted from heavy rainfall and/or storm surge (darker shades of blue).

Suomi NPP VIIRS False Color RGB images from 04 October and 10 October [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS False Color RGB images from 04 October and 10 October [click to enlarge]

A GOES-16 River Flood Detection product viewed using RealEarth (below) helped to quantify the severity of flooding resulting from the landfall of Delta.

GOES-16 River Flood product [click to enlarge]

GOES-16 River Flood Detection product valid at 1900 UTC on 10 October [click to enlarge]

Categories: GLM, GOES-16, Heavy rain / flooding, Lightning, Microwave, RealEarth, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images, Suomi NPP, VIIRS