GOES-11 visible channel imagery from 05 January 2007 (above) revealed some complex wave structures within the various cloud features that were located over the Baja California region (Java animation): (1) a cold front was surging southward across the northern Gulf of California (near the top center of the images), and the broken cloud deck behind the front exhibited some waves; (2) a packet of stationary waves was seen to the lee of Isla de Cedros (“Cedros Island”, located near the center of the images) — mountains on this island rise to elevations of 1205 m (3949 ft), which were high enough to act as a barrier to the prevailing westerly/northwesterly flow on that day; (3) other wave packets were noted both in the stratocumulus clouds over the open waters of the Pacific Ocean, as well as the clouds located inland over parts of Baja California.

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05 January 2007 was the final day of the GOES-13 Post-Launch NOAA Science Test; following the final image at 09:45 UTC (above), the satellite was placed into on-orbit storage until it is needed to replace one of the other operational GOES. This also marked the final opportunity to view the western hemisphere using imagery from 4 different GOES perspectives (below).

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AWIPS MODIS water vapor channel imagery (above) shows a well-defined (but cloud-free) variant of a “Foehn gap” over central Colorado on 04 January 2007. This Foehn gap was oriented roughly north-south, just to the lee of the highest terrain of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains (below), and formed as 60-70 knot winds at 500 hPa were flowing from west to east over that region (winds at Boulder CO KBJC were westerly at 21 gusting to 37 mph around the time of the MODIS image). A comparison of MODIS and GOES water vapor imagery reveals that, due to parallax error with the GOES-12 image, this Foehn gap incorrectly appears to the west of the highest terrain.  Also evident on the 1-km resolution MODIS water vapor image is a series of mountain waves further downwind of the Foehn gap (these mountain waves were not apparent on the 4-km resolution GOES-12 water vapor imagery). There was only one isolated pilot report of turbulence in the area around the time of the MODIS water vapor image, but air traffic is generally at a minimum during that time of day.

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An animation of 3-hourly water vapor image composites from AWIPS during the entire month of December 2006 (55-MB QuickTime animation; 1280×1024 screen resolution required) shows the diverse variety of storms that affected the northern hemisphere during that particular month. Strong winter storms left widespread swaths of heavy snow across much of the central US (01, 19-21, 29-31 December), created hurricane-force winds in the Pacific Northwest states (9-10 and 13-14 December), and deposited heavy lake-effect snowfall downwind of the Great Lakes (7-8 December). Outbreaks of severe convection that spawned tornadoes occurred in Pennsylvania (01 December), Florida (25 December), and Texas (29 December); a rare tornado was also reported near London, England (07 December). Super Typhoon Durian (01-05 December) and Typhoon Utor (06-13 December) made landfall in the Philippines and crossed into the South China Sea.

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