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Subtropical storm in the South Pacific

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-17

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

GOES-17 (GOES-West) “Red” Visible (0.64 um) images (above) showed the development of a subtropical storm in the South Pacific Ocean (just northeast of New Zealand) on 27 May 2021. Surface analyses from the New Zealand Met Service are available here.

GOES-17 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 um) images (below) highlighted the curved band of cold-topped convection wrapping into the deepening storm.

GOES-17 "Clean" Infrared Window (10.3 um) images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-17 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 um) images [click to play animation | MP4]

A NOAA-20 Infrared Window (11.45 um) image viewed using RealEarth (below) showed a higher resolution view of the band of cold clouds wrapping into the system at 1206 UTC.

NOAA-20 Infrared Window (11.45 um) image [click to enlarge]

NOAA-20 Infrared Window (11.45 um) image [click to enlarge]

With ample illumination from the Moon — in the Waning Gibbous phase, at 98% of Full — a Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 um) image (below) provided a high-quality “visible image at night” at 1256 UTC (12:56 am NZST).

Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 um) image [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 um) image [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP ATMS Microwave (183.3 GHz) image

Suomi NPP ATMS Microwave (183.3 GHz) image (credit: Derrick Herndon, CIMSS) [click to enlarge]

A Suomi NPP ATMS Microwave (183.3 GHz) image (above) portrayed the spiral band wrapping into the core of the system at 1256 UTC, while a cross section of Suomi NPP ATMS Brightness Temperature anomaly (below) depicted the deep warm core (shades of green) characteristic of the subtropical cyclone.

Cross section of Suomi NPP ATMS Brightness Temperature anomaly [click to enlarge]

Cross section of Suomi NPP ATMS Brightness Temperature anomaly (credit: Derrick Herndon, CIMSS) [click to enlarge]

Categories: ATMS, GOES-17, NOAA-20, RealEarth, Suomi NPP, Tropical cyclones, VIIRS