30-second images of thunderstorms that produced tornadoes and damaging winds (with some fatalities) in the Houston, Texas area
30-second GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm, top) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm, bottom) images with time-matched (+/- 3 minutes) SPC Storm Reports plotted in cyan, from 2230 UTC on 16 May to 0018 UTC on 17 May [click to play animated GIF | MP4]
Overlapping 1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sectors provided 30-second interval GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (above) — which showed thunderstorms that produced two EF1-rated tornadoes as well as damaging winds (resulting in some fatalities) across the Houston area (SPC Storm Reports) on 16 May 2024. Widespread structural damage occurred in downtown Houston — and there were also power outages across much of the area. The Infrared images revealed numerous pulses of thunderstorm overshooting tops that exhibited infrared brightness temperatures of -80ºC or colder (shades of violet embedded within brighter white regions).
Larger-scale views of 30-second GOES-16 Visible and Infrared images are shown below.
30-second GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images with time-matched SPC Storm Reports plotted in red, from 2130 UTC on 16 May to 0017 UTC on 17 May [click to play animated GIF | MP4]
30-second GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images with time-matched SPC Storm Reports plotted in cyan, from 2130 UTC on 16 May to 0017 UTC on 17 May [click to play animated GIF | MP4]
Taking a closer look at the Houston metro area, 30-second GOES-16 Visible images with/without an overlay of GLM Flash Extent Density (below) showed the lightning activity associated with these thunderstorms, which included a few brief lightning jumps.
30-second GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images, with/without an overlay of GLM Flash Extent Density, from 2300 UTC on 16 May to 0030 UTC on 17 May [click to play animated GIF | MP4]