Overlapping 1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sectors provided GOES-16 (GOES-East) images at 30-second intervals from all 16 of the ABI spectral bands in addition to a Rocket Plume RGB (above), which displayed the northeast-moving warm thermal signature of a SpaceX Falcon 9 stage 1 rocket booster as the Ax-3 Mission was launched from NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2149 UTC (4:49 PM EST) on 18 January 2024. Due to the presence of widespread lower-tropospheric and upper-tropospheric clouds off the coast — note the moist layers seen in a plot of morning Cape Canaveral rawinsonde data (the high-altitude clouds were due to a subtropical jet stream over the Southeast US) — the rocket’s thermal signature was apparent in a more limited subset of Near-Infrared (ABI spectral bands 04/05/06) and Infrared (ABI spectral bands 07/08/09/10) images compared to many previous rocket launches.

One noteworthy feature seen in GOES-16 Water Vapor and Rocket Plume RGB imagery was the subtle trail of hot water vapor in the wake of the departing Falcon 9 stage 1 rocket booster, which could be seen drifting to the north-northwest in 30-second images from 2152-2153 UTC (below).

A comparison of GOES-16 Rocket Plume RGB, Upper-level Water Vapor, Mid-level Water Vapor and Shortwave Infrared images at 21:55:25 UTC (below) revealed a warm thermal signature of the Falcon 9 stage 1 entry burn — which slowed the rocket’s rate of descent as it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere — to prepare it for a landing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

GOES-16 Visible images (below) showed the brighter white Falcon 9 rocket condensation cloud as it emerged from the low-level cloudiness, and was subsequently sheared eastward by westerly winds of 40-70 kts.

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GOES-18 (GOES-West) and GOES-16 (GOES-East) True Color RGB images from the CSPP GeoSphere site (above) showed hazy arcs of blowing dust lofted by Tehuano gap winds that emerged from the south coast of Mexico — which spread out across the Gulf of Tehuantepec and the adjacent waters of the Pacific Ocean on 16-17 January 2024.

GOES-16 Visible images on 16 January (below) included surface plots, Metop ASCAT winds and surface analyses. The development of Gale Force winds was being forecast for the Gulf of Tehuantepec, as northerly winds behind an approaching arctic cold front accelerated through the Chivelas Pass (topography) before exiting the southern coast of Mexico near Ixtepec (MMIT).

As the strong arctic cold front moved inland across the northern coast of Mexico, a notable drop in temperature and dew point was seen at Veracruz (MMVR) and Minatitlan (MMMT), with northerly winds gusting to 45 knots at Veracruz (below).

Surface winds derived from Metop-B/Metop-C ASCAT and GCOM-W1 AMSR2 (source) showed the intensification of Tehuano gap wind flow (below) — the presence of Gale Force winds (34-47 knots) in the Gulf of Tehuantepec was confirmed by both ASCAT and AMSR2.

Significant Wave Height values up to 11.66 ft were generated by these Gale Force winds, according to CryoSat-2 altimetry data (below).

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LightningCast probability fields are routinely produced at CIMSS and incorporated into a RealEarth display (LightningCast probability fields are also available in some National Weather Service AWIPS machines). An example of LightningCast is shown below over Southern Florida. Contours show the probability of a GLM observation of lightning within the next 60 minutes: 10% (Blue), 20% (Cyan), 50% (Green), 75% (Magenta).

Scientists/Programmers at CIMSS are working on a CSPP Geo package that will create LightningCast probability fields, both current and historical. The software has the ability to subsect data, so full-disk (or full-CONUS for GOES-16 or full-PACUS for GOES-18) imagery need not be created. An example of the output for the same times and location as the RealEarth display is shown below.

The animation below stacks both the CSPPGeo and RealEarth output. There are minor differences that are being investigated.

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If you are at the AMS 2024 Meeting in Baltimore at the end of January, you can learn more about LighningCast at this talk on Thursday, 4:45-5 PM, in room 336. A LightningCast Probability QuickGuide is available here.

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Upper-level water vapor imagery, above, shows the development of standing waves in the lee of the Hawai’ian islands. (The waves were also apparent in mid-level and low-level water vapor imagery). Wave development as shown above requires a perturbation in the vertical — achieved by southwesterly flow in the atmosphere encountering the higher terrain of the islands — and an inversion layer along which the gravity wave will propagate. The Lihue sounding at 1200 UTC on 16 January 2024, below, shows an inversion just above 850 mb, and also one near 570 mb. The higher inversion is likely the one that is trapping the wave energy.

The 6.19 µm Weighting Function (viewable at this CIMSS website) for the Lihue Sounding at 1200 UTC on 16 January 2024, below, shows much of the contribution sensed by the satellite to come from the layer between 400 and 600 mb (with a peak contribution at 535 mb). The warm/cold couplet in the observed waves in the water vapor animation above is from -21 to -24^oC. The Lihue sounding had temperatures in that range around 350 mb.

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The development of the standing waves coincided with very strong winds near Kaneohe bay on the northeastern shore of Oahu. The Meteorogram below shows observations from Marion E. Carl Field (the Marine Corps Air Station PHNG). Gusts exceeded 30 knots for 9+ hours starting at 1500 UTC.

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