Maria intensified on 15 September 2011 to become the third hurricane of the 2011 season in the Atlantic Basin — convective bursts during this time period were seen on 4-km resolution GOES-13 10.7 µm IR images from the CIMSS... Read More

GOES-13 10.7 µm IR images from the CIMSS Tropical Cyclones site (above) showed increasing convective banding within the eastern semicircle of Tropical Storm Nate as the system was undergong a period of intensification on 10 September 2011.Deep layer wind shear was light over the region (below), which was a factor that aided in the intensification of... Read More

McIDAS images of 4-km resolution GOES-15 10.7 µm IR data (above; click image to play animation) showed the transition of Tropical Depression #13 into Tropical Storm Lee in the northern Gulf of Mexico on 02 September 2011. Deep convection persisted within the eastern semi-circle of the system, with large areas exhibiting cloud... Read More

Overshooting tops above a thunderstorm suggest an updraft powerful enough to penetrate through the tropopause into the stratosphere. In mid-latitudes, overshoots are well-correlated with both heavy precipitation and severe weather. In the tropics, overshooting tops are linked to intensification in tropical systems. In the image toggle above of an area of disturbed weather that may become a... Read More