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Severe thunderstorms across the Mid-South and Midwest

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-16 Total Precipitable Water, Lifted Index and Convective Available Potential Energy derived products [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

A strong cold front (surface analyses) was moving eastward from the southern Plains toward the lower Mississippi Valley on 15 April 2023 — GOES-16 (GOES-East) Total Precipitable Water and Lifted Index / Convective Available Potential Energy Derived Stability Indices (above) revealed a broad corridor of moisture and instability ahead of the cold front.

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

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images centered over southwestern Missouri (above) included time-matched (+/- 3 minutes) plots of SPC Storm Reports — which showed thunderstorms that produced hail as large as 4.00 inches in diameter and wind gusts as high as 97 mph in Missouri.

The corresponding 1-minute GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images with plots of time-matched SPC Storm Reports (below) indicated that some of the thunderstorm overshooting tops exhibited infrared brightness temperatures in the -65 to -70ºC range (darker red to black enhancement).

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images, with time-matched SPC Storm Reports plotted in blue [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

As the thunderstorms moved farther northeast, one tornado produced EF1/EF2 damage in Missouri — with another cluster of weak tornadoes in general vicinity of St Louis. 1-minute GOES-16 Visible and Infrared images centered over St Louis are shown below.

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


GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images, with time-matched SPC Storm Reports plotted in blue [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

Categories: GOES-16, Severe convection