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Severe thunderstorms in North Dakota and South Dakota

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-16

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images, with SPC storm reports plotted in blue [click to play MP4 animation]

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (above) showed the merger of two Mesoscale Convective Systems over North Dakota and South Dakota during the nighttime (pre-sunrise) hours on 04 July 2018. In addition to hail of 1.00-2.00 inches in diameter, these thunderstorms produced widespread damaging winds up to 95 mph in north-central South Dakota (SPC storm reports).

Nighttime comparisons of VIIRS instrument Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) imagery from the Suomi NPP and NOAA-20 satellites are shown below (courtesy of William Straka, CIMSS). With illumination from the Moon (which was in the Waning Gibbous phase, at 68% of Full), the “visible image at night” capability of the Day/Night Band was demonstrated; numerous bright lighting streaks could also be seen, with many in the vicinity of the cold overshooting tops that were evident on Infrared imagery. The Infrared images also revealed cloud-top gravity waves which were propagating radially outward away from the primary clusters of cold overshooting tops.

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

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

NOAA-20 VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images [click to enlarge]

NOAA-20 VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images [click to enlarge]

Categories: GOES-16, NOAA-20, Suomi NPP, VIIRS