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Actinoform Clouds (Actinae) in the Eastern Pacific Ocean

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-11 Visible (0.65 µm) and Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images [click to play animation]

GOES-11 Visible (0.65 µm) and Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images [click to play animation]

GOES-11 (GOES-West) Visible (daytime) and 3.9 µm Shortwave Infrared (nighttime) imagery (above) revealed an interesting cyclonic vortex which was propagating westward across the eastern North Pacific Ocean on 13-14 March 2007. The radial banded cloud features that form such a cloud “swirl” are known as actinae or actinoform clouds, and they are occasionally seen in the marine stratocumulus cloud field over the Pacific Ocean (one such case was June 1997). This type of cloud pattern was first observed back in 1962 on TIROS V imagery near Hawaii.

Categories: General interpretation, GOES-11, Marine weather