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Mesolows in Lake Superior

By Scott Bachmeier •

5-minute GOES-19 Visible images, from 1346-2201 UTC on 29 January [click to play MP4 animation]

5-minute CONUS Sector GOES-19 (GOES-East) Visible images (above) showed the development of at least 2 mesolow circulations in southern Lake Superior (off the coast of Upper Michigan) on 29 January 2026. The combination of Fixed Buoy and METAR surface reports implied that there was convergence over the portion of the lake where the mesolows formed. Just west of the mesolows, the peak wind gust at the Stannard Rock buoy (STDM4) was 29 kts at 2100 UTC.

Plots of Metop-B ASCAT surface scatterometer winds valid at 1445 UTC (below) confirmed the presence of mid-lake convergence in the area where the mesolows later developed.

GOES-19 Visible image at 1446 UTC on 29 January, with plots of Metop-B ASCAT winds valid at 1445 UTC [click to enlarge]

Surface scatterometer winds from Metop-B/C highlighted the mid-lake convergence — while OSCAT-3 winds showed the compact wind circulation associated with development of the first mesolow (below).

Surface scatterometer winds from Metop-B, Metop-C and OSCAT-3 on 29 January

Interestingly, GOES-19 GLM data displayed a single lightning flash near the Stannard Rock buoy at 1356 UTC (below), several hours prior to the mesolow development.

GOES-19 Visible image at 1356 UTC on 29 January, with an overlay of GLM Flash Extent Density (red pixel) [click to enlarge]

Categories: GLM, GOES-19, Lightning, Marine weather, Metop, Satellite winds