1-minute interval (and 30-second interval, beginning at 0730 UTC) Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-17 (GOES-West) multi-panel images showing all 16 ABI spectral bands (above) revealed the hot thermal signature of the Kincade Fire in Northern California on 24 October 2019. The fire thermal anomaly first became evident in Shortwave Infrared and Near-Infrared imagery at 0421 UTC or 9:21 PM PDT on 23 October (0421 UTC image | 6-minute animation). A weather station close to the fire (Healdsburg Hills) recorded winds gusting to 76 mph less than 2 hours after the fire started; at that time, the Relative Humidity was only 11%. Above-normal temperatures were also present across that region of California, with Downtown Oakland setting a daily record high of 89ºF.

At times the fire’s hot thermal emissions were detected by 13 of the 16 spectral bands — including very subtle signatures in the “Red” Visible (0.64 µm), Near-Infrared “Vegetation” (0.86 µm) and “Cirrus” (1.38 µm), and Low-level Water Vapor (7.34 µm) bands (below). The hottest Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) brightness temperature observed was 138.7ºC (411.9 K), which is the saturation temperature for those ABI detectors.

Since overlapping 1-minute GOES-17 Mesoscale Sectors provided 30-second Visible images, the westward transport of dense smoke from the fire source could be followed in great temporal and spatial detail (below). Note that a ship about 50 miles offshore reported smoke at 18 UTC. Just south of the dense plume, smoke was being reported at Santa Rosa — but the surface visibility remained at 10 miles.

A larger-scale view using the GOES-17 CIMSS Natural Color Red-Green-Blue (RGB) product (below) indicated that smoke had been transported about 400 miles offshore by 20 UTC.

A toggle between Terra MODIS True Color and False Color RGB images from the MODIS Today site (below) provided a more detailed view of the smoke plume and the thermal anomaly (shades of pink to red) associated with the large Kincade Fire (as well as the much smaller Muir Fire near the coast, north of San Francisco).

A comparison of Suomi NPP VIIRS Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) images at 0900 and 2023 UTC (below) showed the expansion of the fire’s thermal anomaly (red to black pixels) during that ~11.5 hour period.

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2.5-minute rapid scan JMA Himawari-8 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.4 µm) images (above) displayed Category 4 Typhoon Bualoi west of the Mariana Islands in the West Pacific Ocean on 22 October 2019. Note the rapid clearing and expansion of the eye after 04 UTC, as the tropical cyclone continued its trend of intensification (ADT | SATCON) while moving over water possessing high values of Sea Surface Temperature and Ocean Heat Content.

Himawari-8 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and Infrared images during that period when the eye rapidly cleared are shown below; the visible images eventually revealed mesovortices within the eye.

In a toggle between NOAA-20 VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images at 1543 UTC (below), note the bright streak on DNB image from lightning activity in the eastern eyewall, along with moonlight side-illumination of some overshooting tops.

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JMA Himawari-8 Upper-level Water Vapor (6.2 µm) images (above) revealed 2 distinct pulses of long-lived gravity waves that propagated northward/northwestward/westward from the coast of Western Australia during the 20-22 October 2019 period. These waves appear to have been generated by thunderstorms near and along the coast — and traveled as far northward as Christmas Island (station identifier YPXM) and the Lesser Sunda Islands.

The corresponding Himawari-8 Mid-level Water Vapor (6.9 µm) images are shown below.

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1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (above) showed thunderstorms that produced tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds (SPC storm reports) in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas area after sunset on 20 October 2019. One of the tornadoes produced EF-3 damage in North Dallas.

In a larger-scale view of GOES-16 Infrared images (below), other thunderstorms were seen that produced a variety of severe weather in other parts of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri — including winds of 82 mph in Oklahoma and 80 mph in Arkansas. The rapidly-pulsing behavior of overshooting tops was well captured by the 1-minute imagery.

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