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Record 24-hour rainfall in Nome, Alaska

By Scott Bachmeier •

The MIMIC Total Precipitable Water (TPW) product (above) showed a northward-moving atmospheric river that was responsible for producing a record 24-hour rainfall amount of 2.47 inches (62.7 mm) ending at 10 pm AKDT on 02 August (06 UTC on 03 August 2019). Some of the poleward transport of moisture was aided by the approach... Read More

MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product [click to play animation | MP4]

MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product [click to play animation | MP4]

The MIMIC Total Precipitable Water (TPW) product (above) showed a northward-moving atmospheric river that was responsible for producing a record 24-hour rainfall amount of 2.47 inches (62.7 mm) ending at 10 pm AKDT on 02 August (06 UTC on 03 August 2019). Some of the poleward transport of moisture was aided by the approach of a Gale Force low (surface analyses).

Blended TPW values reached 2.7 inches near Nome at 1537 UTC on 02 August — and broad areas of TPW greater than 200% of normal (yellow) were seen across the Bering Sea as the atmospheric river approached the Seward Peninsula (below).

Blended Total Precipitable Water and Percent of Normal [click to play animation | MP4]

Blended Total Precipitable Water and Percent of Normal TPW [click to play animation | MP4]

In a plot of surface data from Nome, Alaska over the 02-03 August period (below), heavy rain was reported at 1222 UTC on 02 August.

Time series of surface data from Nome, Alaska [click to enlarge]

Time series of surface data from Nome, Alaska [click to enlarge]

A plot of rawinsonde data from Nome at 12 UTC on 02 August (below) revealed a TPW value of 37.7 mm (1.48 inches), which is among the top 10 TPW amounts on record for that site.

Plot of rawinsonde data from Nome at 12 UTC on 02 August [click to enlarge]

Plot of rawinsonde data from Nome at 12 UTC on 02 August [click to enlarge]

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Eruption of Ulawun in Papau, New Guinea

By Scott Bachmeier •

The Ulawun volcano erupted just after 09 UTC on 03 August 2019 — retrieved Volcanic Ash Height images from the NOAA/CIMSS Volcanic Cloud Monitoring site (above) showed values generally in the 16-18 km range, with some portions of the umbrella cloud as high as 18-20 km. An advisory issued by the Darwin VAAC estimated the maximum volcanic... Read More

Volcanic ash height [click to play animation | MP4]

Volcanic ash height [click to play animation | MP4]

The Ulawun volcano erupted just after 09 UTC on 03 August 2019 — retrieved Volcanic Ash Height images from the NOAA/CIMSS Volcanic Cloud Monitoring site (above) showed values generally in the 16-18 km range, with some portions of the umbrella cloud as high as 18-20 km. An advisory issued by the Darwin VAAC estimated the maximum volcanic ash height to be 63,000 feet or 19.2 km.

Volcanic Ash Loading and Effective Radius products (below) indicated that there were high amounts of large ash particles within the volcanic cloud as it drifted southwestward.

Volcanic ash loading [click to play animation | MP4]

Volcanic ash loading [click to play animation | MP4]

Volcanic ash effective radius [click to play animation | MP4]

Volcanic ash effective radius [click to play animation | MP4]

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Natural gas line explosion and fire in Kentucky

By Scott Bachmeier •

An explosion and fire along a natural gas pipeline occurred between Junction City and Moreland in central Kentucky on 01 August 2019 (media story 1 | media story 2). GOES-16 (GOES-East) Fire Temperature, Fire Power, Fire Area and Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images (above) showed the thermal signature of the fire — the Fire Temperature... Read More

GOES-16 Fire Temperature (top left), Fire Power (top right), Fire Area (bottom left) and Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, bottom right) [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 Fire Temperature (top left), Fire Power (top right), Fire Area (bottom left) and Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, bottom right) [click to play animation | MP4]

An explosion and fire along a natural gas pipeline occurred between Junction City and Moreland in central Kentucky on 01 August 2019 (media story 1 | media story 2). GOES-16 (GOES-East) Fire Temperature, Fire Power, Fire Area and Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images (above) showed the thermal signature of the fire — the Fire Temperature peak of 2438.8 K occurred at 0536 UTC, with the maximum Fire Power of 1102.8 MW and the highest 3.9 µm brightness temperature of 103.6ºC occurring at 0526 UTC. More information on these GOES Fire Detection and Characterization Algorithm (FDCA) products can be found here.

In a corresponding comparison of GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm), Near-Infrared “Snow/Ice” (1.61 µm), Near-Infrared “Cloud Particle Size” (2.24 µm) and Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images (below), thermal signatures were also seen in the Near-Infrared imagery — and a dim signature of this nighttime fire was even apparent in the Visible imagery! The surface observations from Danville Stuart Powell Field Airport are plotted in yellow; the winds were light, minimizing smoke dispersion — but note that the visibility briefly dropped from 10 miles to 7 miles at 07 UTC (possibly due to some smoke drifting over the airport). 

GOES-16 "Red" Visible (0.64 µm, top left), Near-Infrared "Snow/Ice" (1.61 µm, top right), Near-Infrared "Cloud Particle Size" (2.24 µm, bottom left) and Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, bottom right) [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm, top left), Near-Infrared “Snow/Ice” (1.61 µm, top right), Near-Infrared “Cloud Particle Size” (2.24 µm, bottom left) and Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, bottom right) [click to play animation | MP4]

In a comparison of the 4-panel image sets at 0526 UTC (below), the higher spatial resolution of the 0.64 µm (0.5 km*) and 1.61 µm (1 km*) images helped to refine the actual location of the fire. [*at satellite sub-point]

GOES-16 4-panel images at 0526 UTC [click to enlarge]

GOES-16 4-panel images at 0526 UTC [click to enlarge]

With the higher spatial resolution of Suomi NPP VIIRS  and Aqua MODIS Shortwave Infrared imagery, the size and location of the fire’s thermal signature was more accurate when compared to GOES-16 (below). For example, even during the later stage of the fire at 0737 UTC, the VIIRS Shortwave Infrared brightness temperature was 32.0ºC, compared to only 17.9ºC with GOES-16.

Suomi NPP VIIRS Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm, top left), GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, top right), Aqua MODIS Shortwave Infrared (3.7 µm, bottom left) and GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, bottom right) images [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm, top left), GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, top right), Aqua MODIS Shortwave Infrared (3.7 µm, bottom left) and GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, bottom right) images [click to enlarge]

The bright glow of the fire was also evident in a Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) image at 0651 UTC (below).

Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) images [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) images, with city names and highways  [click to enlarge]

A thermal signature of the fire (darker red to black pixels) was also seen in GOES-14 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images (below).

GOES-14 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images [click to enlarge]

GOES-14 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images [click to enlarge]

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GOES-14 is brought out of storage

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-14 was brought out of storage on 31 July 2019, for its annual week of Image Navigation and Registration (INR) testing and a North/South station-keeping maneuver — the first few hours of Full Disk Visible (0.63 µm) images are shown above. The SSEC Satellite Data Services group was able to position a spare... Read More

GOES-14 Visible (0.63 µm) images [click to enlarge]

GOES-14 Visible (0.63 µm) images [click to enlarge]

GOES-14 was brought out of storage on 31 July 2019, for its annual week of Image Navigation and Registration (INR) testing and a North/South station-keeping maneuver — the first few hours of Full Disk Visible (0.63 µm) images are shown above. The SSEC Satellite Data Services group was able to position a spare rooftop antenna to receive the GOES-14 data during this test.

A closer look at the southwestern portion of Hudson Bay (below) revealed a large and anomalously-late area of First-year ice off the coast of Ontario.

GOES-14 Visible (0.63 µm) images [click to enlarge]

GOES-14 Visible (0.63 µm) images [click to enlarge]

In addition to the Imager, the GOES-14 Sounder is also operating. Recall that the sounder provides 18 infrared spectral bands and one visible band (below). A combined image showing both the Sounder and Imager bands has been generated.

Sample GOES-14 multi-spectral image

GOES-14 Sounder mult-spectral animation from August 1, 2019 [click to play animation]

GOES-14 Sounder imagery are being posted in near real-time during this annual test.

===== 01 August Update =====

GOES-14 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images [click to enlarge]

GOES-14 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images [click to enlarge]

GOES-14 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images (above) revealed the warm thermal anomaly or “hot spot” (darker red to black pixels) resulting from a natural gas explosion and fire in central Kentucky on 01 August (blog post).

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