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Lake effect clouds in North Central Texas

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-13 Fog/stratus product (10.7 µm - 3.9 µm) and Visible (0.63 µm) images [click to play animation]

GOES-13 Fog/stratus product (10.7 µm – 3.9 µm) and Visible (0.63 µm) images [click to play animation]

GOES-13 nighttime “Fog/stratus product” IR brightness temperature difference (10.7 µm – 3.9 µm, 4-km resolution) and daytime Visible (0.63 µm, 1-km resolution) images (above) showed the development of lake effect cloud bands that streamed southward across North Central Texas during the pre-dawn and early morning hours on 18 December 2015. As high pressured moved southward over the region in the wake of a cold frontal passage (surface analyses), colder air with surface temperatures in the upper 20s to middle 30s F flowed over the still-warm waters of the larger reservoirs located north and east of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex (below), creating instability which aided in the formation of the cloud bands (as seen using RealEarth).

GOES-13 Visible (0.63 µm) image at 1445 UTC, with Google maps background [click to enlarge]

GOES-13 Visible (0.63 µm) image at 1445 UTC, with Google maps background [click to enlarge]

The 1-km resolution MODIS Sea Surface Temperature product (below) indicated that lake water temperatures were still as warm as the lower to middle 50s F, with a maximum value of 57º F seen in Lake Tawakoni.

Terra MODIS Visible (0.65 µm) image and Sea Surface Temperature product [click to enlarge]

Terra MODIS Visible (0.65 µm) image and Sea Surface Temperature product [click to enlarge]

Hat tip to the NWS Fort Worth for alerting us to this interesting event via Twitter.

Categories: GOES-13, MODIS, RealEarth