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Volcanic cloud from Klyuchevskaya moves over Saskatchewan, North Dakota and Minnesota

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-16 (GOES-East) SO2 RGB and Ash RGB images (above) showed a remnant volcanic cloud from the 31 October Klyuchevskaya eruption as it moved over southern Saskatchewan, northern North Dakota and far northwestern Minnesota on 06 November 2023. The volcanic cloud exhibited brighter shades of orange-yellow in the SO2 RGB imagery, and darker shades of blue in the... Read More

GOES-16 SO2 RGB and Ash RGB images, from 0146 UTC to 1606 UTC [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

GOES-16 (GOES-East) SO2 RGB and Ash RGB images (above) showed a remnant volcanic cloud from the 31 October Klyuchevskaya eruption as it moved over southern Saskatchewan, northern North Dakota and far northwestern Minnesota on 06 November 2023. The volcanic cloud exhibited brighter shades of orange-yellow in the SO2 RGB imagery, and darker shades of blue in the Ash RGB imagery — as seen in RGB comparisons over southern Saskatchewan (north of CWEN-CWVN) at 0301 UTC and northwestern North Dakota at 0801 UTC (below).

GOES-16 SO2 RGB and Ash RGB images at 0301 UTC, showing the volcanic cloud over far southern Saskatchewan (just north of CWEN-CWVN) [click to enlarge]

GOES-16 SO2 RGB and Ash RGB images at 0801 UTC, showing the volcanic cloud over far southern Saskatchewan and far northwestern North Dakota (north of CWEN to south and southwest of CYEN) [click to enlarge]

The 0301 UTC and 0801 UTC image times corresponded to Volcanic Ash Advisories that were issued by the Montreal VAAC and the Washington VAAC (below).

Volcanic Ash Advisory and Forecast issued by the Montreal VAAC [click to enlarge]

Volcanic Ash Advisory and Forecast issued by the Washington VAAC [click to enlarge]

GOES-16 SO2 RGB and Ash RGB images at 1601 UTC (below) showed the volcanic cloud over far northwestern Minnesota (in the vicinity of KPKD).

GOES-16 SO2 RGB and Ash RGB images at 1601 UTC, showing the volcanic cloud over far northwestern Minnesota (in the vicinity of KPKD) [click to enlarge]

The qualitative appearance on SO2 and Ash RGB imagery was suggestive of a volcanic cloud that was a mixture of SO2 and ash (with more SO2 than ash) — and a radiometrically-retrieved Ash Loading product from the NOAA/CIMSS Volcanic Cloud Monitoring site (below) indicated that the ash content of the cloud was relatively low (0.5-1.0 grams per square meter, violet).

Ash Loading product, from 0240 UTC to 1610 UTC [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

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Eruption of Klyuchevskaya on the Kamchatka Peninsula

By Scott Bachmeier •

JMA Himawari-9 Ash RGB images created using Geo2Grid (above) showed the complex transport of Kyluchevskaya volcanic plumes — which were a mixture of ash (shades of pink to red-orange) and SO2 (brighter shades of yellow) — during the 3-day period from 31 October to 02 November 2023. Much of the transport... Read More

JMA Himawari-9 Ash RGB images, from 0000 UTC on 31 October to 2300 UTC on 02 November [click to play MP4 animation]

JMA Himawari-9 Ash RGB images created using Geo2Grid (above) showed the complex transport of Kyluchevskaya volcanic plumes — which were a mixture of ash (shades of pink to red-orange) and SO2 (brighter shades of yellow) — during the 3-day period from 31 October to 02 November 2023. Much of the transport was influenced by a middle-tropospheric closed low that was progressing from Kamchatka toward the Aleutian Islands (500 hPa analyses).

GOES-18 (GOES-West) Air Mass RGB images (below) also depicted the volcanic plume — the portions that were dominated by SO2 exhibited brighter shades of pink (since the Red component of this RGB uses the 7.3 µm spectral band, which is sensitive to SO2 absorption). Volcanic Ash Advisories cautioned aviation interests of ash extending to altitudes of 36000 ft.

GOES-18 Air Mass RGB images, with plots of Pilot Reports (red) and polygons of Volcanic Ash Advisories/Forecasts (cyan/yellow), from 0000 UTC on 31 October to 0140 UTC on 03 November [click to play MP4 animation]

While there were very few Pilot Reports (PIREPs) in the general vicinity of the volcanic plume — since aircraft were wisely avoiding the risk of an ash encounter — there were 3 PIREPs that mentioned Volcanic Ash (VA) (below).

GOES-18 Air Mass RGB image at 0120 UTC on 31 October, with a Pilot Report of a thin Volcanic Ash layer at an altitude of 28000 ft [click to enlarge]

GOES-18 Air Mass RGB image at 2340 UTC on 02 November, with a Pilot Report of a possible Volcanic Ash plume at an altitude of 35000 ft [click to enlarge]

GOES-18 Air Mass RGB image at 0020 UTC on 03 November, with a Pilot Report of faint sulfur odor at Waypoint NATES (latitude/longitude 54°N / 172°E), and haze below an altitude of 28000 ft [click to enlarge]

One of the more explosive events during this prolonged eruption period began around 0220 UTC on 01 November. Radiometrically-retrieved Ash Height and Ash Loading products from the NOAA/CIMSS Volcanic Cloud Monitoring site are shown below — which indicated that the resulting ash-rich volcanic cloud reached heights of 10-12 km.

Himawari-9 Ash Height derived product, from 0200-1200 UTC on 01 November [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

Himawari-9 Ash Loading derived product, from 0200-1200 UTC on 01 November [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

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Resuspended volcanic ash from Mount Aniakchak in Alaska

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-18 (GOES-West) Dust RGB images (above) showed a plume of resuspended volcanic ash (brighter shades of violet) from Mount Aniakchak, which was being lofted by strong SE winds — gusting as high as 45 knots at Port Heiden — and transported NW across Bristol Bay on 26 October 2023. A Volcanic Ash Advisory was issued at... Read More

GOES-18 Dust RGB images [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

GOES-18 (GOES-West) Dust RGB images (above) showed a plume of resuspended volcanic ash (brighter shades of violet) from Mount Aniakchak, which was being lofted by strong SE winds — gusting as high as 45 knots at Port Heiden — and transported NW across Bristol Bay on 26 October 2023. A Volcanic Ash Advisory was issued at 2130 UTC (below), cautioning pilots of hazardous airborne ash between the Surface and an altitude of 3000 feet.

GOES-18 Dust RGB image at 2130 UTC, with a cursor sample of the Volcanic Ash Advisory [click to enlarge]

While a subtle signature of the plume was also evident in GOES-18 Ash RGB imagery, it was a bit more obvious in the Dust RGB (below) — both RGBs use the same spectral bands and spectral band differences, but the individual RGB components are scaled differently (so an examination of both is advised, in order to determine which RGB is best to track this type of ash-related feature).

GOES-18 Dust RGB and Ash RGB images at 2130 UTC [click to enlarge]

GOES-18 True Color RGB images from the CSPP GeoSphere site (below) provided a good view of the resuspended ash plume (shades of tan) as it moved NW across the water.

GOES-18 True Color RGB images [click to play MP4 animation]

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Typhoon Lola seen from Himawari

By Alexa Ross •

Severe Tropical Cyclone Lola has formed in the southwest Pacific and is currently moving south west. As of 2023-10-25 at 21Z, it is located near Vanuatu at approximately 17°S, 167°E. Watch Lola move over 48 hours in RealEarth, which allows users to visualize full-disk data from geostationary satellites: GOES-East, GOES-West,... Read More

Severe Tropical Cyclone Lola has formed in the southwest Pacific and is currently moving south west. As of 2023-10-25 at 21Z, it is located near Vanuatu at approximately 17°S, 167°E. Watch Lola move over 48 hours in RealEarth, which allows users to visualize full-disk data from geostationary satellites: GOES-East, GOES-West, and Himawari. Himawari carries the Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI), which is a twin instrument to the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) that flies on GOES-East and West.

Cyclone Lola in the Southwest Pacific as seen from Himawari, from 2023-10-23 at 18Z to 2023-10-25 at 18Z, every hour. Daylight frames show true color imagery while nighttime frames show Band 9 water vapor imagery. Viewers can recreate this animation using RealEarth.

A previous post noted Lola’s lack of eye structure. You can see that eye clearly in the animation on 2023-10-23, but it dissipates by 2023-10-24 at 05Z. Discussion from the JWTC notes “a drastic degradation in the structure… and a lack of convection near the center… The environment is clearly hostile with high southwesterly shear, mid-level dry air and lower SSTs having finally taken their toll on the system.” Lola is predicted to arrive at New Caledonia island on 2023-10-27 at 00Z with its winds weakened significantly.

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