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Smoke plumes from Saudi Arabian oil facilities

By Scott Bachmeier •

VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Visible (0.64 µm) imagery from Suomi NPP and NOAA-20 (above) revealed dark smoke plumes from oil refineries and other facilities damaged by drone strikes early in the day on 14 September 2019.EUMETSAT Meteosat-8 Visible (0.8 µm) images (below) showed the south-southwestward transport of the... Read More

VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Visible (0.64 µm) imagery from Suomi NPP and NOAA-20 [click to enlarge]

VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Visible (0.64 µm) images from Suomi NPP and NOAA-20 (courtesy of William Straka, CIMSS) [click to enlarge]

VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Visible (0.64 µm) imagery from Suomi NPP and NOAA-20 (above) revealed dark smoke plumes from oil refineries and other facilities damaged by drone strikes early in the day on 14 September 2019.

EUMETSAT Meteosat-8 Visible (0.8 µm) images (below) showed the south-southwestward transport of the smoke plumes. Thick smoke drifted over Al Ahsa (OEAH), and at one point restricted to 2.8 miles.

EUMETSAT Meteosat-8 Visible (0.8 µm) images, with hourly plots of surface reports [click to play animation | MP4]

EUMETSAT Meteosat-8 Visible (0.8 µm) images, with hourly plots of surface reports [click to play animation | MP4]

Before (13 September) and after (14-15 September) True Color Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images from Terra MODIS and Suomi NPP VIIRS as viewed using RealEarth are shown below.

True Color RGB images from Terra MODIS and Suomi NPP VIIRS, from 13-15 September [click to enlarge]

True Color RGB images from Terra MODIS and Suomi NPP VIIRS, from 13-15 September [click to enlarge]

A sequence of 3 VIIRS Day/Night Band images from Suomi NPP and NOAA-20 (below) showed nighttime views of the smoke plumes, illuminated by the Moon (which was in the Waning Gibbous phase, at 98% of Full).

VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) from Suomi NPP and NOAA-20 [click to enlarge]

VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) from Suomi NPP and NOAA-20 (courtesy of William Straka, CIMSS) [click to enlarge]

A Meteosat-8 Visible animation spanning portions of 14, 15 and 16 September is shown below.

EUMETSAT Meteosat-8 Visible (0.8 µm) images, with hourly plots of surface reports [click to play animation | MP4]

EUMETSAT Meteosat-8 Visible (0.8 µm) images with hourly plots of surface reports, 14-16 September [click to play animation | MP4]

===== 17 September Update =====

Landsat-8 False Color image [click to enlarge]

Landsat-8 False Color RGB image [click to enlarge]

A 30-meter resolution Landsat-8 False Color RGB image (above) showed a number of smoke plumes from oil facility fires that continued to burn on 17 September.

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Severe thunderstorms in Wyoming, Nebraska and South Dakota

By Scott Bachmeier •

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images (above) showed  the development of thunderstorms that produced large hail, tornadoes and damaging winds (SPC Storm Reports) across eastern Wyoming, northern Nebraska and southern South Dakota on 10 September 2019. Note that many of the storms exhibited Above-Anvil Cirrus Plumes. Pulsing overshooting tops reached -80ºC and colder (violet pixels)... Read More

GOES-16

GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images, with SPC Storm Reports plotted in red [click to play animation | MP4]

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images (above) showed  the development of thunderstorms that produced large hail, tornadoes and damaging winds (SPC Storm Reports) across eastern Wyoming, northern Nebraska and southern South Dakota on 10 September 2019. Note that many of the storms exhibited Above-Anvil Cirrus Plumes. Pulsing overshooting tops reached -80ºC and colder (violet pixels) just east of Valentine, Nebraska (KVTN) from 0001-0004 UTC (0002 UTC image) — and a few minutes following their collapse, a wind gust of 60 mph was reported in that general vicinity.

The corresponding GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images are shown below.

GOES-16 "Clean" Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images, with SPC Storm Reports plotted in cyan [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images, with SPC Storm Reports plotted in cyan [click to play animation | MP4]

The animation shown below is from an experimental product at CIMSS/SSEC, whereby the contours were produced using a ‘deep learning’ artificial intelligence model that was trained on ABI imagery and GLM gridded products to generate the ‘probability of supercell-like features inferred from satellites’, or more concisely, the ‘probability of supercell’. Note that the model does a decent job of identifying active portions of the storms (e.g., persistent Overshooting Tops), which correspond well with severe weather reports.

GOES-16 Visible/Infrared Sandwich RGB and

GOES-16 Visible/Infrared Sandwich RGB and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images, with “probability of supercell” contours and SPC Storm Reports (courtesy of John Cintineo, CIMSS) [click to play MP4 animation]

During the subsequent nighttime hours, GOES-16 Infrared images (below) showed a convective cluster which produced 3 EF-2 tornadoes and damaging winds in and around Sioux Falls, South Dakota (NWS summary). Note that pulsing overshooting tops west of Sioux Falls (KFSD) exhibited infrared brightness temperatures of -80ºC and colder (violet pixels) from 0402-0406 UTC (0404 UTC image), which was about 20 minutes prior to the first tornado reports.

GOES-16 "Clean" Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images, with SPC Storm Reports plotted in cyan [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images, with SPC Storm Reports plotted in cyan [click to play animation | MP4]

 

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Dorian moves across the Maritime Provinces of Canada

By Scott Bachmeier •

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (above) showed Hurricane Dorian as it briefly intensified from a Category 1 to a Category 2 storm during the morning of 07 September 2019. Later in the day, Dorian transitioned to a post-tropical storm before making landfall over... Read More

GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (above) showed Hurricane Dorian as it briefly intensified from a Category 1 to a Category 2 storm during the morning of 07 September 2019. Later in the day, Dorian transitioned to a post-tropical storm before making landfall over Nova Scotia around 2215 UTC. Due to high amounts of  deep-layer wind shear, the low-level circulation center of Dorian remained exposed while deep convection remained to its north and northeast. The eye of Dorian moved over Buoy 44011, which recorded a wind gust to 82 knots; in western Nova Scotia, winds gusted to 70 knots at Yarmouth.

VIIRS True Color RGB and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images from Suomi NPP and NOAA-20 [click to enlarge]

VIIRS True Color RGB and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images from Suomi NPP and NOAA-20 [click to enlarge]

VIIRS True Color RGB and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images from Suomi NPP and NOAA-20 as visualized using RealEarth (above) revealed a brighter region exhibiting a somewhat hazy appearance within the cloud-free slot southwest of the eye during the 16-17 UTC period. This could have been a signature of diffuse solar reflection off highly-agitated ocean waves — a NHC discussion noted strong Metop-B ASCAT winds of 80 knots or higher in that area around 15 UTC (below).

Metop-B ASCAT winds [click to enlarge]

Metop-B ASCAT winds [click to enlarge]

On the following day, Suomi NPP VIIRS True Color and Infrared  images (below) showed Post-Tropical Cyclone Dorian when its center was over the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Wind gusts included 68 knots at Heath Point, Quebec (CWHP) and 57 knots at Deer Lake, Newfoundland (CYDF).

Suomi NPP VIIRS True Color RGB and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS True Color RGB and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images [click to enlarge]


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Typhoon Faxai makes landfall in Japan

By Scott Bachmeier •

#Typhoon #Faxai made landfall in Chiba Pref. Monday morning (9/9) with its central pressure 960hPa and sustained winds 144kph. Faxai is the windiest typhoon to hit the Greater Tokyo area in recorded history. pic.twitter.com/j5TQQ2FF0q — Sayaka Mori (@sayakasofiamori) September 8, 2019 2.5-minute rapid scan JMA Himawari-8 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.4 µm)... Read More


2.5-minute rapid scan JMA Himawari-8 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.4 µm) images centered on Tokyo (with plots of hourly wind gusts) are shown below — wind gusts included 90 knots (167 km/h) at New Tokyo International Airport (RJAA) and 85 knots (157 km/h) at Tokyo International Airport (RJTT).

Himawari-8

Himawari-8 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.4 µm), with hourly wind gusts (in knots) plotted in yellow [click to play animation | MP4]

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