Stereoscopic views of Visible Imagery (from GOES-16 and GOES-17, above) allow for visualization of three dimensions, as shown in the mp4 animation above (click here for an animated gif of the same scene). The imagery captures multiple cloud layers over the western United States (a map will show up in the animation) as a potent system moved eastward.

GOES-R includes four channels in the near-visible including the Cirrus Channel at 1.37 µm. The Cirrus Channel is useful here because the water vapor absorption of 1.37 µm energy means that any near-surface signal is absorbed, so mostly high-level clouds are present (low clouds become visible in the cirrus channel in very dry atmospheres). The animation below (the animated gif is here) is a stereoscopic view created with 1.37 µm imagery and the structure of the high clouds is more apparent.

View only this post Read Less

Both GOES-16 (GOES-East) and GOES-17 (GOES-West) were placed into the Mode 6 scan strategy for a 3-day period of testing beginning at 1500 UTC on 19  February 2019 — which provides Full Disk images every 10 minutes (instead of every 15 minutes for the more common Mode 3 scan strategy). Further details on GOES-R series scan modes are available here and here. GOES-16 Full Disk “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images are shown above, with Mid-level Water Vapor (6.9 µm) images below.

One of the more striking features over the North Atlantic Ocean was a rapidly-intensifying Hurricane Force low — an animation that cycles through GOES-16 Visible and Water Vapor images of this system is displayed below.

GOES-16 Air Mass RGB images from the AOS site (below) exhibited the orange-to-red hues of ozone-rich air within the atmospheric column due to a lowered tropopause associated with the rapidly deepening North Atlantic storm.

Looking to the west with GOES-17, Full Disk animations of Visible and Water Vapor images are shown below.

The more frequent 10-minute images allowed a short-lived signature of orographic waves within a transient dry slot immediately downwind (northeast) of Atka (PAAK) in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska  (below) — such a signature often indicates a high potential of turbulence. There were also areas of transverse banding seen with the jet stream cirrus just southeast of Atka (another satellite signature of turbulence).

Similar to what was seen over the North Atlantic, GOES-17 Air Mass RGB images (below) exhibited the orange-to-red hues of ozone-rich air within the atmospheric column due to a lowered tropopause poleward of the jet stream axis as it moved northeastward across the Aleutians.

View only this post Read Less

Morphed Total Precipitable Water imagery (from this site) for the 24 hours ending at 0100 UTC on 19 February 2019, above, shows two Tropical disturbances spinning on either side of the Equator. Cyclone Oma in the Southern Hemisphere was northwest of New Caledonia in the Coral Sea. A second disturbance over the north Pacific, albeit very close to the Equator, was near Pohnpei and will pass near Chuuk later this week. Interests in Micronesia should pay attention to this area of disturbed weather.

Himawari-8 Clean Window imagery (10.41 µm) (courtesy JMA), below, shows the better organization of Oma in contrast to the more disorganized nature of the tropical wave over Pohnpei.

Refer to the CIMSS Tropical Webpage (Link) for more information on Oma. The National Weather Service on Guam is issuing statements on the tropical system in Micronesia. (From 0245 UTC on 19 February 2019, for example) (Update: This is now Tropical Depression 02W; a projected path as of 1200 UTC on 19 February is here. The current forecast has this storm achieving typhoon status late Wednesday).

View only this post Read Less

The 250-hPa jet streak currently over the CONUS contains wind speeds approaching 200 kt (230 mph) and is assoc. w/ standardized anomalies >3? spanning from Texas to Michigan. I suspect this jet streak is also helping cross-country flights arrive early on the East Coast! ? ? pic.twitter.com/z7474e6bXk

— Alicia M Bentley (@AliciaMBentley) February 17, 2019

An unusually strong jet streak was located over the Lower 48 states on 17 February 2019. GOES-16 (GOES-East) Upper-level Water Vapor (6.2 µm) images with plots of 6.2 µm Derived Motion Winds (above) showed numerous tracked targets along and south of the jet axis — within the jet streak exit region over the Mid-Atlantic states, some velocity values were as high as 181 knots (below).

A plot of rawinsonde data from Lincoln, Illinois at 00 UTC (below) showed wind speeds as high as 190 knots at a pressure of 231 hPa. The 250 hPa wind speed of 184.7 knots set both a daily and an all-time record speed for that pressure level (the old all-time record was 175 knots for a sounding on 10 Dec at 00 UTC).

GOES-16 Air Mass RGB images from the AOS site (below) provided a classic portrayal of the green hues of warm/moist tropical air south of and the orange/red hues of cold/dry polar air north of this strong jet stream.

===== 18 February Update =====

The large southward dip of the polar jet stream — evident in the GOES-16 Air Mass RGB images from the previous day — brought cold air into the Desert Southwest, resulting in snowfall at lower-elevation locations such as Las Vegas, Nevada. GOES-17 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and Near-Infrared “Snow/Ice (1.61 µm) images (above) revealed snow on the ground in the Las Vegas area — much of which quickly melted with increased surface heating after sunrise. Snow cover is a good absorber of radiation at the 1.61 µm wavelength, so it appeared as darker shades of gray on the Snow/Ice images; the distribution of the heavier snowfall amounts (which naturally melted more slowly) was influenced by the topography of the area. This snowfall forced the closure of Interstate 15 from Las Vegas to the Nevada/California border for several hours due to icy pavement and multiple traffic accidents.

The snow cover was apparent in Visible imagery from 4 GOES (below) — GOES-17 (GOES-West), GOES-15 (the backup GOES-West), GOES-16 (GOES-East) and GOES-13 (the backup GOES-East, which had been brought out of storage for annual maintenance activities).

? Lots of chatter this morning about the snow in #Vegas! Here’s a look at some of the observed totals, with most of the accumulations favoring the southern and western edges of town. #VegasWeather ? pic.twitter.com/oo6UHwJUix

— NWS Las Vegas (@NWSVegas) February 18, 2019

View only this post Read Less