Derechos are long-lived convectively-driven wind storms. In the upper midwest, they typically form in northwesterly flow just poleward of very warm and moist air and then surge southward. Convection overnight on 13-14 August 2007 developed into a long-lasting complex with a bow echo that propagated from north of Minneapolis to... Read More

As much as we enjoy evangelizing satellite imagery and demonstrating all its useful applications, there are situations when satellite imagery simply is not as helpful as we would hope it might be. On 11 July 2007, a lightning strike started a fire at the Sunoco Oil Refinery near West Deptford, New Jersey... Read More

Severe thunderstorms developed over northwestern Kansas on 19 June 2007. An AWIPS image of the MODIS 11.0µm InfraRed (IR) channel (above) revealed an “enhanced-v” and a “warm trench” IR signature on adjacent storm tops. The coldest cloud top brightness temperature values were -77º C on both signatures; the warmest IR temperature associated... Read More

A major outbreak of severe convection developed across the southern and central Plains states during the day on 28 March and 29 March 2007; large and long-lived thunderstorms produced widespread tornadoes (including fatal tornadoes in Texas and Oklahoma, and the first tornado-related fatality in Colorado since 1960), large hail (up to 4.5 inches... Read More