Surface analysis maps over the Northeast Atlantic Ocean (above) showed the rapid intensification of an area low pressure — named Storm Frank by the UK Met Office and Met Éireann — during the 29-30 December 2015 time period. As the storm moved northward toward Iceland, the central pressure of Frank explosively deepened from... Read More

Visible Imagery over the Gulf of Mexico on 28 December 2015 revealed the presence of a Rope Cloud. Rope Clouds are handy features in satellite imagery because they reveal the location of the surface cold front, and the animation above shows wind shifts from southerly to westerly as the Rope... Read More

A rare Full Moon on Christmas — the last occurrence was in 1977, and the next will be in 2034 — was reached at 1111 UTC, and provided some compelling “visible images at night” from the Suomi NPP VIIRS 0.7 µm Day/Night Band (DNB). The animation above shows the coverage of... Read More

As shown above, a widespread outbreak of severe weather occurred on 23 December – 24 December 2015 (surface analysis maps), centered on the Mississippi Valley and Ohio Valley regions of the US. There were at least 14 fatalities in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas — and storm damage surveys (NWS Memphis PNS) showed that there... Read More