GOES-16 Upper-level Water Vapor images, with plots of Derived Motion Winds [click to play animated GIF | MP4]
An anomalously-strong 250 hPa jet streak (analysis) was moving across the Upper Midwest late in the day on 27 December 2021. The 205 knots at Chanhassen Minnesota was a 250 hPa record maximum speed for all 00 UTC rawinsondes on 28 December at that site, as was the 207 knots at Green Bay, Wisconsin. GOES-16 (GOES-East) Upper-level Water Vapor (6.2 µm) images with plots of Derived Motion Winds (DMW) (above) showed this jet streak as it moved over the Chanhassen (KMPX) and Green Bay (KGRB) areas.
GOES-16 Upper-level Water Vapor images, with plots of Derived Motion Winds and contours of RAP model Maximum Wind Speed isotachs [click to play animated GIF | MP4]
12 hours later, the tail end of the still anomalously-strong 250 hPa jet streak (analysis) was moving across Wisconsin and Michigan on the morning of 28 December. The 187 knots at Green Bay, Wisconsin was a 250 hPa record for 12 UTC rawinsondes on 28 December at that site, as was the 181 knots at Gaylord, Michigan. GOES-16 Upper-level Water Vapor images with plots of Derived Motion Winds and contours of RUC40 model maximum wind speeds (above) showed this jet streak as it moved over the Green Bay (KGRB) and Gaylord (KAPX) areas.
Examples of 3 DMWs over Wisconsin and Michigan having speeds in excess of 180 knots are shown below. The DMW speed values were generally in good agreement with the hourly RAP40 isotachs at the Level of Maximum Winds, demonstrating that DMWs can be useful for model verification.
Posted in GOES-15, Satellite winds | Comments Off on Strong jet streak over the Upper Midwest
GOES-6 was NOAA‘s operational satellite during the 1983 Hurricane Raymond, which was a Cat 4. This incredibly powerful storm was made famous in the 1998 book “Red Sky in Mourning: A True Story of Love, Loss, and Survival at Sea” written by Tami Oldham Ashcraft with Susea McGearhart, and also by the 2018 movie “Adrift”.
“[October 12, 1983]… About 1000 the seas arched into skyscrapers, looming over our boat. The anemometer– the wind speed gauge — now read a steady sixty knots [69 mph or 31 m/s] and we were forced to take down all sails and maintain our position under bare poles with the engine running … The wind sounded like jet engines being thrown in reverse. I looked at the anemometer and gasped when I read 140 knots [161 mph or 72 m/s] … I looked up at the ship’s clock: It was 1300 hours. My eyes dropped to the barometer: It was terrifyingly low — below twenty-eight-inch mark [948 hPa]. Dread engulfed me. I hugged the musty blanket to my chest as I was flung side to side in the hammock. No sooner had I closed my eyes when all motion stopped. Something felt very wrong, it became too quiet — this trough too deep. “OHMIGOD!” I heard Richard scream. My eyes popped open. WHOMP! I covered my head as I sailed into oblivion.”
From the book: Red Sky in Mourning: A True Story of Love, Loss, and Survival at Sea
GOES-6 IR loop from 13:15 UTC on October 11th, to 02:45 UTC on October 13th, 1983 in the eastern Pacific. The locations of the boat (Hazana) are approximate.
The above GOES-6 infrared satellite loop has been annotated with two approximate locations of the boat (Hazana), one of October 9th and the other on October 18th, 1983. While the location of the boat (in beige) on October 12th and it’s relationship to Hurricane Raymond is unknown, the boat must have received the brunt of the storm. A similar loop as above, but without the labels or grid lines. Or an image with only the grid lines and boat locations.
Multi-day, large-scale, visible loop of the daytime images from GOES-6 between October 8-13, 1983.
A similar visible loop, but animated twice as fast and as an animated gif. Note the development of the eye, along with the fast forward speed of the storm.
A higher resolution GOES-6 visible loop over the daytime hours of October 10th, 1983.
Similar GOES-6 visible loops (mp4) from October 11th and 12th, 1983 (and as animated gifs: October 11th and 12th).
A full spatial resolution GOES-6 visible loop over the daytime hours of October 10th, 1983.
Similar as above, full spatial resolution GOES-6 visible loops (mp4) views from October 11th and 12th, 1983 (and as animated gifs: October11th and 12th).
Multi-day infrared loop of the daytime images from GOES-6 between October 8-13, 1983.
Infrared (IR) imagery can monitor the storm throughout the day and night. Recall that a smaller hurricane eye can imply a more powerful storm.
…. “A tropical wave, later to become Hurricane Raymond, passed into the Pacific from Nicaragua on 5 October and moved westward at 8 m s-1. At this time, a deep-layer mean high center was over Mexico and a well developed ridge line extended westward toward the Hawaiian Islands. By 0600 GMT 8 October, infrared satellite imagery showed increasing cyclonic shear over the disturbance, and the first advisory on the cyclone was issued with the center near 12.4°N, 104.4°W. The depression moved due west at 2 m s-1, south of the mean ridge line, and over very warm 29-30°C water. Intensification to tropical storm occurred at 0000 GMT 9 October near 12.3°N, 106.4°W. Tropical Storm Raymond continued moving west, accelerated and intensified. By 1200 GMT 10 October, winds had reached 34 m s-1 and the storm was upgraded to a hurricane near· 12.0°N, 114.6°W. Raymond was now moving west at 8 m s-1 and a small but distinct eye had become visible near the center. Raymond then began to intensify rapidly (Fig. 22). Twenty-four hours later, the cyclone reached its maximum intensity of 64 m s-1 [143 mph] near 12.4°N, 121.2°W. Raymond then turned west-northwest, moving at 8 to 9 m s-1. With sea surface temperatures remaining above 27°C, Raymond moved across 140°W longitude with 57 m s-1 winds shortly after 0600 GMT on 14 October.“
GOES-6 Full Disk image from October 10, 1983. This image combines visible imagery and cloud infrared temperatures.
A larger version of the above image. A similar image as above, but as seen by NOAA’s GOES-5, which was then the eastern GOES.
2020 – Hurricane Marie
Another long-lived eastern Pacific category 4 storm was Hurricane Marie in 2020 as detailed by NHC. Of course the more modern GOES-17 Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) was able to acquire images more frequently and at a higher spatial resolution than was possible in 1983, as in shown in this CIMSS Satellite Blog post.
Animation of both visible and IR (cold pixels) bands of Hurricane Marie, 2020.
2021 – Hurricane Linda
GOES-15 band 3 (6.5 mircometer) band in August of 2021 over the Eastern Pacific.
A similar storm in August of 2021, as shown in a GOES-15 water vapor band loop over several days.
Credits
NOAA GOES-6 data (and other GOES) are via the University of Wisconsin-Madison SSEC Satellite Data Services. These images were made using the McIDAS-X software, developed at the UW/SSEC. Thanks for all who have made the entire suite of GOES possible, as well as the experimental satellites that preceded the operational ones. Much progress has been made in the monitoring of tropical cyclones between GOES-5/6 and the current advanced imagers. More GOES-16 and -17 imagery and other information. Scott Bachmeier is thanked for his help with this post.
Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images from GOES-17, GOES-15, GOES-14 and GOES-16 [click to play animation | MP4]
The Caldor Fire (east of Sacramento, California) exhibited unprecedented growth on 17 August 2021 — increasing from 3600 acres burned in the morning to 30,000 acres that evening, with 0% containment — and Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images from 1-minute GOES-17, 15 to 30-minute GOES-15, 15 to 30-minute GOES-14 and 5-minute GOES-16 (above) displayed a rapid expansion of the fire’s thermal anomaly (large cluster of hot pixels, darker black enhancement; the white pixels seen in GOES-15 images were due to a “wrap-around” effect with that satellite’s saturated 3.9 µm detectors). Each of the 4 image panels are displayed in the native projection of that particular satellite.
GOES-17 True Color RGB images created using Geo2Grid(below) showed the large amounts of smoke (and frequent pyrocumulus clouds) produced by the Caldor Fire.
GOES-17 True Color RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]
GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]
1–minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm)and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (above) showed Tropical Storm Fred during the 8-hour period leading up to it making landfall along the panhandle of Florida around 1915 UTC on 16 August 2021. Multiple convective bursts developed near the storm center, with some exhibiting cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures of -80ºC or colder (violet pixels). As Fred moved inland, it produced heavy rainfall and strong winds.
A time-matched comparison of Infrared images from GOES-16 and Suomi NPP at 1831 UTC is shown below. The coldest cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures were -74.1ºC with GOES-16 and -79.5ºC with Suomi NPP. The spatial offset is due to parallax that is inherent with GOES imagery.
1831 UTC Infrared Window images from GOES-16 (10.35 µm) and Suomi NPP (11.45 µm) [click to enlarge]
Views of Fred from 4 GOES (GOES-17, GOES-15, GOES-14 and GOES-16) around 1800 UTC are shown below.
Infrared Window images of Tropical Storm Fred from GOES-17, GOES-15, GOES-14 and GOES-16 around 1800 UTC (credit: Tim Schmit, NOAA/NESDIS/ASPB) [click top enlarge]
![Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images from GOES-17, GOES-15, GOES-14 and GOES-16 [click to play animation | MP4]](https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/images/2021/08/210817_goes17_goes15_goes14_goes16_shortwaveInfrared_Caldor_Fire_CA_anim.gif)
