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New England Nor’easter

By Scott Lindstrom •

GOES-13 was placed into Rapid Scan Operations mode during the evolution of the strong Nor’easter that affected much of New England (HPC storm summary), and the 10.7 µm IR imagery, above (available for download here as an MP4 and here as an animated gif) shows the development of the system over the 2-day period of 26-27 January. Of particular note in the animation is the southeast to northwest motion of cold cloud tops over central and eastern Long Island around 0500 and 0600 UTC on 27 January. Those cold clouds tops never quite made it to western Long Island or to New Jersey, where snow totals were less. The GOES-13 visible image animation for these 2 days is shown below (available for download here as an MP4 and here as an animated gif).

GOES-13 0.65 µm Visible Imagery, 26-27 January 2015 (click to play animation)

GOES-13 0.65 µm Visible Imagery, 26-27 January 2015 (click to play animation)

ASCAT microwave data continues to show the surface circulation. The METOP-A overpass at 1513 UTC, below, shows a center about 100 miles southeast of Nantucket, where gusts past hurricane force have been occurring. A large area of winds exceeding 50 knots (in red) is present over the northern Gulf of Maine.

METOP-A ASCAT winds, 1513 UTC on 27 January 2015 along with surface METAR reports (click to enlarge)

METOP-A ASCAT winds, 1513 UTC on 27 January 2015 along with surface METAR reports (click to enlarge)

A comparison of 1-km resolution MODIS 0.64 µm visible channel, 11.0 µm IR channel, and 6.7 µm water vapor channel images from 17:49 UTC is shown below. One observation of interest is a ship report just southeast of the storm center: 50-knot winds from the south-southwest, with blowing spray reducing surface visibility to 2-3 miles.

MODIS 0.64 µm visible, 11.0 µm IR, and 6.7 µm water vapor images (with surface/ship/buoy reports and surface analysis)

MODIS 0.64 µm visible, 11.0 µm IR, and 6.7 µm water vapor images (with surface/ship/buoy reports and surface analysis)

===== 28 January Update =====

Aqua MODIS true-color image

Aqua MODIS true-color image

As the Nor’easter departed and the clouds began to clear over the northeastern US on 28 January, the Aqua MODIS true-color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) image shown above revealed the areas with significant snow on the ground. Note the thin areas of snow cover along the spine of the Appalachian Mountains, extending as far southward as Tennessee and North Carolina. Closer views of New York City and Washington DC are also available.

===== 29 January Update =====

Terra and Aqua MODIS true-color images

Terra and Aqua MODIS true-color images

The clouds had cleared from the Boston region on 29 January; a comparison of the Terra and Aqua MODIS true-color images (above) showed the changes in the offshore sediment patterns in the ~90 minutes between the overpasses of the 2 satellites. The strong winds of the storm caused upwelling of colder waters along the coast and nearshore areas, with the Suomi NPP VIIRS Sea Surface Temperature product (below) showing SST values as cold as the 30-33º F range (darker purple color enhancement).

Suomi NPP VIIRS Sea Surface Temperature product

Suomi NPP VIIRS Sea Surface Temperature product

Categories: GOES-13, MODIS, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images, Satellite winds, Suomi NPP, VIIRS, Winter weather