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Standing wave cloud over the north shoreline of Saginaw Bay

By Scott Bachmeier •

5-minute GOES-19 Visible images (top left), Infrared images (top right), Mid-level Water Vapor images (bottom left) and Upper-level Water Vapor images (bottom right), from 1951 UTC on 20 April to 0001 UTC on 21 April; hourly surface wind barbs are plotted in white [click to play MP4 animation]

5-minute CONUS Sector GOES-19 (GOES-East) imagery (above) revealed the brief development of what appeared to be a standing wave cloud — caused by a vertically-propagating gravity wave — that was anchored near the north coast of Saginaw Bay, Michigan on 20 April 2026. At first glance, this author was reminded of similar-appearing standing wave clouds that form along the Minnesota coast of Lake Superior.

A toggle between GOES-19 images and Topography (below) seemed to show that the northwestern edge of the cloud feature lined up with the final (subtle) drop in topography near the coast — however, since there was not the strong NW offshore surface wind flow common to the aforementioned Minnesota example, perhaps the onshore (and slightly upslope) lake breeze played a role in vertical gravity wave initiation? Until a sound explanation rooted in science is stumbled upon, this event will fall into the coveted “What the heck is this?” blog post category.

GOES-19 Visible/Infrared/Water Vapor images at 2136 UTC on 20 April, compared with Topography; Surface Wind barbs are plotted in white [click to enlarge]

Categories: General interpretation, GOES-19, What the heck is this?