Industrial plumes producing light snow in Wisconsin
GOES-16 (GOES-East) Near-Infrared “Snow/Ice” (1.61 µm) images (above) displayed industrial plumes (from sources such as power plants) that produced brief periods of light snow as they drifted over a few sites in northern Wisconsin on 22 January 2023. Particles emitted from industrial stacks acted as cloud condensation nuclei, “seeding” the surrounding supercooled water cloud droplets which then created a higher concentration of smaller cloud droplets — and these smaller cloud droplets were more efficient reflectors of incoming solar radiation, making the plumes appear slightly brighter than the surrounding clouds.GOES-16 Day Snow-Fog RGB images (below) provided a bit more cloud-top contrast, helping to slightly enhance the appearance of the industrial plumes.