With a dome of high pressure centered over the southeastern US early in the day on 25 February 2008, the Gulf Coast of Texas began to experience a southeasterly onshore flow during the pre-dawn hours. AWIPS images of the GOES-12 10.7µm IR channel (above) revealed a subtle signature of slightly warmer cloud top temperatures (darker gray enhancements) associated... Read More

Comparing AWIPS images of the MODIS visible channel, 11.0µm “IR window” channel, 3.7µm “shortwave IR” channel, and 1.6µm near-IR “cirrus channel” (above) showed how certain satellite channels are very useful in the detection of a broad area of aircraft contrails that existed over parts of Illinois, Indiana, and lower Michigan... Read More

A patch of dense cirrus clouds developed to the lee (downwind) of the mountains of the Colorado “Front Range” on 02 December 2007 — this cloud feature marked the crest of a standing wave that had formed as stable air flowed from west to east across the Rocky Mountains. GOES-11 visible images (above)... Read More

“Lee waves” are sometimes seen just downwind of significant topography (such as high mountain ranges) when strong winds are perpendicular to the ridge lines — but even relatively subtle terrain features can produce lee wave clouds that are evident on satellite imagery (one such example of lee wave clouds in... Read More