Severe convection developing over eastern South Dakota during the pre-dawn hours on 09 July 2009 exhibited an unusually large and well-defined “enhanced-v” storm top signature on AWIPS images of the GOES-12 10.7 µm IR channel (above) as it produced large hail (up to 2.50 inches in diameter) and damaging winds... Read More

The 2009 wildfire season roared to life in Alaska on 02 July – 03 July 2009, with a number of very large and very intense fires breaking out across interior portions of the state. A ridge of high pressure was in place over the region, allowing Fairbanks to experience a high temperature above... Read More

A large severe thunderstorm that was developing in southern Kansas during the afternoon hours on 15 June 2009 had a very nice satellite presentation on NOAA-15 visible and 10.8 µm IR imagery (above). A “warm trench” signature appeared to be surrounding the cluster of coldest pixels associated with the strongest... Read More

Well, not really — but a very interesting cloud plume formed yesterday and streamed off the 20,318-ft (6194-m) summit of Denali (“Mt. McKinley”) in southern Alaska on 10 June 2009, which almost had the  appearance of a volcanic eruption plume. GOES-11 visible images (above) showed this thin cloud plume spreading... Read More