Kármán vortex streets and an actinoform cloud feature off the coast of Chile
GOES-16 True Color RGB images [click to play animated GIF | MP4]
GOES-16 (GOES-East) True Color RGB images created using Geo2Grid (above) showed (1) Kármán vortex streets extending downwind (to the north) of Isla Alejandro Selkirk and Robinson Crusoe — part of the Juan Fernández Islands off the coast of Chile, and (2) an actinoform cloud feature farther to the west (which was also moving northward) on 11 March 2022.
In the corresponding Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB images (below), the light shades of green exhibited by the narrow cloud bands within the actinoform feature suggested that they were beginning to glaciate — similar to what was observed in this example.
GOES-16 Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB images [click to play animated GIF | MP4]
A toggle between GOES-16 True Color RGB and Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB images at 1600 UTC is show below.
GOES-16 True Color RGB and Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB images at 1600 UTC [click to enlarge]
It is interesting to note that as a ship was passing through the northern portion of the Kármán vortex street about 100 miles north of Isla Alejandro Selkirk at 16 UTC, it reported moderate showers (below) — which would not be expected from a typical field of marine stratocumulus clouds.
GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images, with ship reports plotted in cyan [click to play animated GIF | MP4]
Kudos to the NWS Spaceflight Meteorology Group and UW-CIMSS for bringing these phenomena to our attention: