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Derecho causing severe weather from the Midwest to the Mid-South

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-16

GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images, with time-matched SPC Storm Reports plotted in red [click to play animation | MP4]

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images (above) showed a long-lived Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) or derecho that produced a swath of large hail and damaging winds (SPC Storm Reports | NWS Nashville) from eastern Kansas to central Tennessee, northern Mississippi and northern Alabama on 03 May 2020.

The corresponding GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images are shown below. Pulsing overshooting tops exhibited cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures around -70ºC (black enhancement).

GOES-16 "Clean" Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images, with SPC Storm Reports plotted in cyan [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images, with time-matched SPC Storm Reports plotted in cyan [click to play animation | MP4]

NOAA-20 VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images, with plots of available NUCAPS sounding points [click to enlarge]

NOAA-20 VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images, with plots of available NUCAPS sounding points [click to enlarge]

A toggle between NOAA-20 VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images (above) included plots of available NUCAPS sounding points. The temperature and dew point profiles for the green sounding point south-southeast of Jackson, Tennessee (station identifier KMKL) revealed a very unstable air mass in the pre-convective environment just ahead of the approaching MCS (below).

Temperature and dew point profiles for the NUCAPS sounding point south-southeast of Jackson,Tennessee [click to enlarge]

Temperature and dew point profiles for the NUCAPS sounding point south-southeast of Jackson,Tennessee [click to enlarge]

Categories: GOES-16, NOAA-20, NUCAPS, Severe convection, VIIRS