Blowing dust from Lake Colhué Huapi in the Patagonian region of southern Argentina
10-minute Full Disk scan GOES-19 (GOES-East) daytime True Color RGB + nighttime Dust RGB images created using Geo2Grid (above) showed a plume of blowing dust originating from the dry Lake Colhué Huapi in southern Argentina on 16 September 2026. The airborne dust appeared as shades of magenta to violet in the nighttime Dust RGB images. This blowing dust was lofted by strong westerly winds in the wake of a cold frontal passage (surface analyses).
During the same time period, GOES-19 daytime True Color RGB + Nighttime Microphysics RGB images (below) highlighted a curious difference in the nighttime appearance of the blowing dust plume — with parts of the plume exhibiting brighter shades of white.
The differences in appearance of both a narrow dust plume originating from the far northern tip of the dry lake bed and part of the leading (eastern) edge of the plume were highlighted in a comparison of Dust RGB and Nighttime Microphysics RGB images at 2320 UTC (below).
2-3 hours prior to the start time of the GOES-19 RGB image animations shown above, the plume of blowing dust was reducing the surface visibility to ~6 miles at Comodoro Rivadavia (METAR identifier SAVC) at 1700-1800 UTC (below). Lake Colhué Huapi lies within the lower-elevation (darker shades of green) area 50-60 miles west-northwest of SAVC.
A plot of surface report data from SAVC (below) indicated that westerly winds gusted as high as 43 knots at 2000 UTC on 16 September (the start time of the GOES-19 RGB image animations).
