1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) Fire Temperature RGB, Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm), Fire Power derived product and Fire Temperature derived product images (above) showed the thermal signatures associated with a wind-driven grassland fire in north-central South Dakota on 06 November 2022. The Fire Temperature and Fire Power derived products are components of the GOES Fire Detection and Characterization Algorithm FDCA. The earliest unambiguous fire signature was seen in the 3.9 µm imagery at 1720 UTC, as infrared brightness temperatures began to increase. The first Fire Power pixel then appeared at 1724 UTC, with the first Fire Temperature RGB pixel appearing at 1727 UTC. At 1743 UTC, the hottest 3.9 µm brightness temperature occurred (9.78ºC) along with the peak Fire Power value of 1459.1 MW.

GOES-16 True Color RGB images from the CSPP GeoSphere site (below) displayed the smoke plume as it drifted southeastward and eventually crossed the South Dakota / Minnesota border — and a dark burn scar became apparent at the fire source region.

NOAA-20 VIIRS True Color and False Color RGB images valid at 1944 UTC (below) provided a higher spatial resolution view of the smoke plume; on the False Color RGB image, pink pixels highlighted the hottest portions of the wind-driven fire at that time. The VIIRS data used to create these images were acquired and processed by the SSEC/CIMSS Direct Broadcast ground station.

===== 07 November Update =====

During the subsequent nighttime hours, a comparison of NOAA-20 VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) images valid at 0759 UTC (above) showed the bright glow and warm thermal signature associated with a small remnant fire near the northwestern end of the burn scar — but the small thermal signature was not apparent in lower spatial resolution GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) imagery at 0756 UTC.

This small fire was not evident in a later Suomi-NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band image valid at 0852 UTC (below) — but the 7-8 mile long dark burn scar was easily seen between Bowdle and Loyalton.

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1-minute GOES-16 (GOES-East) Mesoscale Domain Sector “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images (above) included time-matched (+/- 4 minutes) plots of SPC Storm Reports — which showed thunderstorms that moved northeastward across parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana during the hours leading up to sunset on 04 November 2022.

The corresponding 1-minute GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images  (below) continued for several hours past sunset — and indicated that the coldest pulsing overshooting tops exhibited infrared brightness temperatures in the -70 to -75ºC range (interior pixels having a darker black to lighter white enhancement). These storms produced hail up to 2.75 inches in diameter in Texas, and damaging winds up to 108 mph in Oklahoma — along with widespread tornadoes (with some resulting in fatalities). The EF-4 tornado which tracked from Red River County, TX to McCurtain County, OK was the first EF-4 tornado in NWS Shreveport’s County Warning Area since 29 November 2010, and the first Oklahoma EF-4 since 09 May 2016.

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GOES-16 (GOES-East) Mid-Level Water Vapor (6.9 µm) and Air Mass RGB images (above) covered the period 0600-1800 UTC on 03 November 2022 — during which Category 1 Hurricane Martin transitioned to an extratropical cyclone over the North Atlantic Ocean (surface analyses). West of Martin, the large area of orange-to-red hues on the Air Mass RGB images highlighted an anomalously-deep mid-tropospheric trough that was moving eastward (also shown by UKMET model 500 hPa height contours) — which began to phase with and absorb the mid-tropospheric circulation of Martin as the extratropical transition completed.

DMSP-17 SSMIS Microwave (85 GHz) imagery at 1005 UTC (below) — from the CIMSS Tropical Cyclones site — indicated that a closed eyewall was not present with Martin at that time.

VIIRS True Color RGB and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images from Suomi-NPP (at 1447 UTC) and NOAA-20 (at 1537 UTC) viewed using RealEarth (below) showed Martin around the time that extratropical transition was nearly complete.

GOES-16 Nighttime Microphysics RGB and daytime True Color RGB images from the CSPP GeoSphere site (below) displayed the center of Martin moving rapidly north-northeastward (at speeds of 40-50 knots) during the day.

Additional imagery of Martin can be seen in this blog post.

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Hurricane Martin, now in the north Atlantic, continues to move northeast and is expected to become a post-tropical cyclone in the next few hours. It was named a Hurricane on Wednesday, 2022-11-02 around 15UTC. Its maximum sustained winds are 85 mph (140 km/h). By the weekend, Martin’s swells will be affecting parts of Canada, the Azores, and coastal regions of western Europe. Hurricane Martin’s forecast cone is provided by the National Hurricane Center.

Meanwhile in the Gulf and Caribbean, Lisa has left much of Belize’s population to deal with its damages. Lisa upgraded to hurricane status on 2022-11-02 around 12UTC, and downgraded to tropical storm about fifteen hours later, after making landfall in Belize. As of 11-3-2022 at 15UTC, Lisa has weakened to a depression.

Animations that span several days can be easily made using RealEarth, a free tool for visualizing satellite data products. It is great for things like tracking multiple hurricanes across the Atlantic. Animation and map settings are customizable, and you can even view multiple spectral bands from satellites like GOES-16 (i.e. GOES-East).

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