GOES-16 (GOES-East) Split Window Difference images (above) showed widespread strong winds across the Dakotas and northern Minnesota which were responsible for producing plumes of blowing dust (darker shades of gray) — most notably from eastern North Dakota into northwestern Minnesota — on 24 May 2021.The corresponding GOES-16 Split Window Difference images with plots of... Read More
![GOES-16 Split Window Difference images, with plots of wind barbs and gusts [click to play animation | MP4]](https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/images/2021/05/G16_B13_B15_SWD_BLDN_ND_MN_24MAY2021_Bk_2021144_231116_GOES-16_0001PANEL_FRAME0000051.GIF)
GOES-16 Split Window Difference images, with plots of wind barbs and gusts [click to play animation | MP4]
GOES-16
(GOES-East) Split Window Difference images
(above) showed widespread strong winds across the Dakotas and northern Minnesota which were responsible for producing plumes of blowing dust
(darker shades of gray) — most notably from eastern North Dakota into northwestern Minnesota — on
24 May 2021.
The corresponding GOES-16 Split Window Difference images with plots of surface visibility are shown below — at 23 UTC the visibility dropped to 4 miles at Grand Forks, North Dakota as a dense dust plume moved through that location (where southwesterly winds were gusting to 31 knots at that time).
![GOES-16 Split Window Difference images, with plots of surface visibility [click to play animation | MP4]](https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/images/2021/05/G16_B13_B15_SWD_VIS_BLDN_ND_MN_24MAY2021_Bk_2021144_231116_GOES-16_0001PANEL_FRAME0000063.GIF)
GOES-16 Split Window Difference images, with plots of surface visibility [click to play animation | MP4]
![GOES-16 True Color RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]](https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/images/2021/05/GOES-16_ABI_RadC_true_color_2021144_230116Z.png)
GOES-16 True Color RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]
GOES-16 True Color RGB images
(above) and
Dust RGB images
(below) created using
Geo2Grid highlighted the more dense plumes of blowing dust — the source region for the more prominent dust plumes appeared to be dry agricultural fields in southeastern North Dakota that had received
very little rainfall during the preceding week.
![](https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/images/2021/05/GOES-16_ABI_RadC_dust_2021144_230116Z.png)
GOES-16 Dust RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]
Ground-based lidar data from Grand Forks indicated that the dust was lofted to altitudes of around 10,000 feet.
===== 25 May Update =====
![GOES-16 Dust RGB images, with and without plots of surface reports [click to play animation | MP4]](https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/images/2021/05/nd_dust_obs-20210525_210115.png)
GOES-16 Dust RGB images, with and without plots of surface reports [click to play animation | MP4]
Strong winds persisted across that same region on
25 May — and GOES-16 Dust RGB images
(above) again displayed the subtle signature of blowing dust
(light shades of pink/magenta) along the leading edge of cloudiness that was moving eastward into northwestern Minnesota.
GOES-16 True Color RGB images (below) once again showed the hazy signature of blowing dust.
![GOES-16 True Color RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]](https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/images/2021/05/GOES-16_ABI_RadC_true_color_2021146_004115Z.png)
GOES-16 True Color RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]
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