GOES-13 Visible (0.63 µm, 1-km resolution) images (above) showed the development of lake effect snow bands across the Great Lakes region following the passage of a strong arctic cold front on 12 February 2016. As a result of the atmospheric instability (due to the advection of very cold air aloft), several distinct... Read More

There are two animations a the top of this blog post, one with a 1-minute timestep, above, and one with a 15-minute timestep, below. The strong winter storm that hit Colorado on Monday 1 February (Blog Post) was accompanied by multiple cloud layers and snow during the day on Monday was... Read More

A storm forecast to produce near-record snowfalls over the Nation’s Capitol has started to move up the east coast of the United States on 22 January 2016. Snow that will fall requires two things: abundant moisture, and cold temperatures. The MIMIC Total Precipitable Water Product, shown above for the 72 hours ending at 1400... Read More

When strong storms appear in Forecast Models, it is tempting to trace back in the atmosphere where the system originates. The water vapor animation above, from GOES-13, ends with the future East Coast Storm developing over the lower Mississippi River Valley (where it produced severe weather). The rocking animation, below, shows... Read More