Localized heavy rainfall and flooding in south-central Wisconsin

By Scott Bachmeier • 15 June 2016

GOES-13 Infrared Window (10.7 µm) images [click to play animation]

GOES-13 Infrared Window (10.7 µm) images (above) showed the development of several rounds of deep convection which moved over parts of southern Wisconsin during the 14 June – 15 June 2016 period; these storms were responsible for heavy rainfall at some locations (NWS Milwaukee summary). As mentioned in a WPC Mesoscale Precipitation Discussion, some of these storms were focused along the nose of a low-level jet that was helping to push a warm frontal boundary (surface analyses) through the region. Moisture was also abundant south of the warm front, with a total precipitable water value of 55.1 mm (2.17 inches) seen in rawinsonde data from Davenport IA.

Landsat-8 false-color image [click to enlarge]

A timely cloud-free overpass of the Landsat-8 satellite on the morning of 15 June provided a 30-meter resolution false-color image as viewed using RealEarth (above), which showed areas of flooding — water appears as darker shades of blue — in the Black Earth area of western Dane County in southern Wisconsin. A before/after comparison of Landsat-8 images processed using an equation to highlight water as blue (below, courtesy of Shane Hubbard, SSEC/CIMSS) revealed the areas of inundation due to the 14-15 June thunderstorms.

Landsat-8 derived water change, 30 May vs 15 June 2016 [click to enlarge]

Aerial footage from a drone flight (below) showed vivid images of the flooding along Black Earth Creek.

YouTube video from drone flight near Black Earth, Wisconsin [click to play]

Categories: GOES-13, Heavy rain / flooding, Hydrology, Landsat, RealEarth, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images

CIMSS Satellite Blog

CIMSS Satellite Blog

Localized heavy rainfall and flooding in south-central Wisconsin