Himawari-8 Window Channel infrared imagery (10.41 µm), above, shows a well-defined tropical disturbance (Tropical Depression #2 has become become Tropical Storm Surigae by 0900 UTC on 14 April; this website shows Pacific basin names and includes audio pronunciation examples) moving between Yap and Palau in the western Pacific to the southwest of Guam. The disturbed weather in this region has persisted for many days as it has moved towards the west-northwest, as shown in the rocking MIMIC Total Precipitable Water animation below.

NOAA-20 NUCAPS estimates of tropopause Heights, below, show the storm in a region with a very high tropopause, around 120 hPa. The system is moving towards a region with similarly high tropopauses.

Water Vapor imagery (6.24 µm and 7.3 µm) from near sunrise of 14 April show moist air in the immediate environment surrounding the storm (Link).  Visible imagery at sunrise on 14 April, below, show strong and persistent deep convection.

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It is interesting to note that during the ~12 hours prior to the disturbance (dubbed Tropical Invest 94W) being named Tropical Depression 02W at 12 UTC on 13 April, 2.5-minute interval Himawari-8 Visible (0.64 µm) images from 0002-0802 UTC (below) revealed a trio of low-level vorticies circulating around the incipient storm center. The northernmost vortex appeared to play a role in the initiation of a small cluster of sheared convection. While an exposed low-level circulation center is common in deteriorating highly-sheared tropical cyclones, the presence of 3 vortices during the formative stages of development is rather unusual.

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Imagery from the CIMSS Tropical Weather Site (link), below, shows the system in a region of very warm Sea Surface Temperatures and modest shear.  Strengthening is forecast as it moves towards the Philippines.

 

Himawari-8 Imagery courtesy of JMA, the Japan Meteorological Agency.

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CSPP GeoSphere allows a user to view True Color imagery (and individual GOES-16 bands) in real time using data from the four GOES-16 domains:  Full Disk, CONUS, and Mesoscale Sectors 1 and 2.  The animation above shows the 1330 UTC eruption (11 April 2021) of Soufriere, one of a series of eruptions from that volcano (as discussed here and elsewhere).  The ash emitted by the short (duration) eruption then moves westward towards Barbados, following upper-level winds.  (Low-level winds are easterly).  The rapid ascent of the ash cloud is documented below, showing 4 images from the Full Disk imagery at 1320, 1330, 1340 and 1350 UTC.

Rapid changes suggest Mesoscale imagery would be useful.  Indeed, volcanic events area ranked #2 on the GOES-R MDS Priority List, after only a SPC High/Moderate Risk for Severe weather.  Thus, mesoscale Sector 2 imagery was available over the area.   That is shown below and it better captures the time of the eruption and better resolves the ascent through the troposphere.

Seven consecutive zoomed-in 1-minute images are shown below, from 1329 through 1336 UTC on 11 April (with the map removed; CSPPGeo link used here; a similar animation from the CIRA Slider is here.) They show the initial stages of this particular eruption.  A Pileus cap is obvious at the top of the eruption at 1329 UTC. (Animation available here as an mp4).

Quantitative information on some aspects of this series of events can be found at the VOLCAT website.  You can also find information at the Washington DC VAAC (Volcanic Ash Advisory Center).

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GOES-16 (GOES-East) Ash RGB and SO2 RGB images (above) displayed signatures of two distinct eruptions of the La Soufrière volcano on the island of Saint Vincent in the West Indies on 09 April 2021. Signatures of high ash or SO2 concentrations appear as brighter shades of pink on the RGB images. Significant ash fall on parts of the island forced evacuations of some communities. The SO2 signature for the second eruption was much more pronounced and widespread.

The corresponding GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (below) showed that coldest cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures associated with the first eruption (which began shortly before 1250 UTC) were -62ºC, while the second and more explosive eruption (which began shortly after 1900 UTC) exhibited temperatures as cold as -78ºC.

GOES-16 True Color RGB images created using Geo2Grid (below) showed the characteristic tan-colored hues of a volcanic cloud having significant ash loading.

A number of quantitative radiometrically-retrieved products are available from the NOAA/CIMSS Volcanic Cloud Monitoring site — some of which include Ash Height, Ash Probability, Ash Loading and Ash Effective Radius (below).

===== 10 April Update =====

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (above) displayed the volcanic cloud associated with numerous explosive eruptions that continued during much of the day on 10 April. The coldest cloud-top infrared brightness temperature of -84.8ºC occurred at 1058 UTC (and would have been missed by the routine 10-minute images over that area). This cold overshooting top infrared brightness temperature roughly corresponded to an altitude of 18.2 km, or 1.8 km above the tropopause according to 12 UTC rawinsonde data from Barbados (below).

GOES-16 True Color RGB images within +/- 30 minutes of the -84.8ºC infrared brightness temperature are shown below — an abrupt penetration of the existing volcanic cloud top was seen by the newly-developed overshooting top.

GOES-16 Ash RGB images (below) indicated high concentrations of volcanic ash (brighter shades of pink) spreading out slowly around the island of Saint Vincent at lower altitudes, and being transported rapidly eastward at higher altitudes. To the north, light ash fall was limiting the surface visibility to 2-3/4 miles at Saint Lucia (TLPL) — while farther to the east heavier ash fall on the island of Barbados visibility was occasionally being restricted to around 1/2 mile (1000 meters) at Grantley Adams Airport (TBPB).

GOES-16 SO2 RGB images (below) showed that high concentrations of SO2 (shades of red to orange) were also being emitted during the series of eruptions.

GOES-17 (GOES-West) provided an oblique view of these volcanic clouds, which were very near the extreme limb of the satellite view — a comparison of GOES-17 and GOES-16 Full Disk sector “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images for one of the more explosive events on 10 April is shown below. The magnification factor is identical in both sets of GOES images, though they are displayed in the native projection of each satellite. A similar comparison of 10-minute Full Disk sector GOES-17 and 1-minute Mesoscale sector GOES-16 Visible images is available here.

A toggle between True Color RGB images from GOES-16 and GOES-17 at 1930 UTC (below) further illustrates the parallax displacement associated with the large viewing angle from GOES-17.

===== 11 April Update =====

A nighttime NOAA-20 VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) image (above) revealed mesospheric airglow waves propagating northeastward and eastward away from the volcano, which was still actively erupting every few hours.

The periodic violent eruptions continued into the daytime hours on 11 April — and GOES-16 Mid-level Water Vapor (6.9 µm) images (below) showed shock waves emanating radially outward from the initial volcanic cloud location following each eruption.

===== 13 April Update =====

Eruptions continued on the morning of 13 April, as seen in GOES-16 Infrared and Ash RGB images (above).

A 4-day animation of GOES-16 Ash RGB images — covering the period from 1230 UTC on 09 April to 1230 UTC on 13 April — is shown below.

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The toggle above shows GOES-17 ABI Band 2 (“Red Visible” at 0.64 µm) and Band 5 (“Snow/Ice” at 1.61 µm) imagery at 1740 UTC on 8 April 2021. 60ºN and 170ºW lat/lon lines are included in yellow, as well as Nunivak Island.  There is evidence of sea ice extending from south of Nunivak northwestward;  visible 0.64 µm imagery  shows much greater reflectance compared to 1.61 µm snow/ice imagery.  It’s much harder to view the ice edge in the snow/ice channel because reflectances in that channel for ice and water are similar.

Compare the toggle above to the Sentinel-1A Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image at 1735 UTC on 8 April 2021, shown below.   The stark wind difference (red vs. blue) in the SAR wind image below is in reality a change in ocean state, with ice over the red region and open water over the blue.  (Here is the Sea Ice analysis for 8 April from the Alaska Sea Ice Program (ASIP)).  Interpretation of SAR winds requires a knowledge of the presence of ice.

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