This website works best with a newer web browser such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Microsoft Edge. Internet Explorer is not supported by this website.

CIMSS Satellite Blog

MENU

Lake effect fog/stratus in North Dakota

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-16 Nighttime Microphysics RGB and Day Snow-Fog RGB images [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

A sequence of GOES-16 (GOES-East) Nighttime Microphysics RGB and Day Snow-Fog RGB images (above) showed the nocturnal development of lake effect fog/stratus plumes (lighter shades of yellow), which drifted northward from Lake Sakakawea in northwestern North Dakota on 26 October 2022. Two of the fog/stratus features moved across the Tioga and Stanley areas, where surface reports briefly indicated a drop in surface visibility to zero along with freezing fog. After sunrise, Day Snow-Fog RGB images revealed the dissipation of these lake effect fog/stratus features — and also displayed the areal coverage of early-season snow cover (shades of red) across the Montana/North Dakota border region.

The GOES-16 Nighttime Microphysics RGB image at 1001 UTC (below) includes an overlay of NOAA-20 VIIRS Sea Surface Temperature (SST) — the southerly flow of cold air (in the 20s F) across Lake Sakakawea’s SST values of 50-54ºF (shades of cyan) helped to create the lake effect fog/stratus features.

GOES-16 Nighttime Microphysics RGB image at 1001 UTC, with NOAA-20 VIIRS Sea Surface Temperature [click to enlarge]

Categories: Cryosphere, Fog detection, GOES-16, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images, Winter weather