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Thunderstorms in the Alaska Interior

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-17

GOES-17 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm, left) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm, right) images, with hourly precipitation type plotted in red [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-17 (GOES-West) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (above) showed thunderstorms that developed across Interior Alaska on 02 June 2019. Some of these storms produced small hail, prompting the issuance of a Severe Thunderstorm Warning:



Usually the GOES-17 Mesoscale Domain Sector #2 is positioned over Alaska to provide 1-minute imagery — but on this day it was relocated to cover severe thunderstorms across New Mexico and Texas — so imagery over Alaska was only available at the 10-minute Full Disk scan interval.

In addition to the hail, these storms also produced heavy rainfall — especially at Fairbanks, with 0.65 inch falling in only 21 minutes.

Time series of surface report data from Fairbanks International Airport [click to enlarge]

Time series of surface report data from Fairbanks International Airport [click to enlarge]

Categories: GOES-17