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Fires in the Plains

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-16 (GOES-East) Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images and the corresponding GOES-16 Fire Temperature product (above) showed the thermal signatures of widespread fires across the Great Plains (primarily in the Flint Hills of Kansas and Oklahoma) on 08 April 2019. Although fairly small and often relatively brief, some of these fires become quite hot —... Read More

GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) and Fire Temperature product [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) and Fire Temperature product [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 (GOES-East) Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images and the corresponding GOES-16 Fire Temperature product (above) showed the thermal signatures of widespread fires across the Great Plains (primarily in the Flint Hills of Kansas and Oklahoma) on 08 April 2019. Although fairly small and often relatively brief, some of these fires become quite hot — exhibiting Fire Temperature values as high as 2762 K (or 4512ºF) southwest of Cottonwood, Kansas at 2011 UTC. These fires were typical Springtime prescribed burns and agricultural fields being cleared for planting.

One fire southwest of Salina, Kansas began to exhibit a prominent 3.9 µm thermal anomaly after 22 UTC, attaining a peak infrared brightness temperature of 95.6ºC (or 204ºF); a closer view of that fire is shown using GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared images along with Fire Temperature, Fire Area and Fire Power products (below). Note that during much of the time (for example, at 2221 UTC) there were no Fire Temperature, Fire Area or Fire Power values processed for the hottest 3.9 µm fire pixel — this is because the fire was producing a thick smoke plume, and the smoke-filled (on Visible imagery) hot pixel was flagged by the GOES Fire Detection and Characterization Algorithm (FDCA) Cloud Mask as a “cloudy pixel”. Beginning in May 2019, an updated algorithm will begin to produce the Fire Power parameter for all types of fire pixel (Processed fire, Saturated fire, Cloud-contaminated fire, and High/Medium/Low-probability fires), but the Fire Temperature and Fire Size parameters will only be available for the Processed fire category.

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

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

A sequence of MODIS and VIIRS Shortwave Infrared (3.7 µm) images from the Aqua, Suomi NPP and NOAA-20 satellites (below) showed a more detailed view of the fire thermal signatures (black to yellow to red enhancement) during the 1.5 hours between 1822 and 2001 UTC.

Sequence of MODIS and VIIRS Shortwave Infrared (3.7 µm) images from 1822-2001 UTC [click to enlarge]

Sequence of MODIS and VIIRS Shortwave Infrared (3.7 µm) images from 1822-2001 UTC [click to enlarge]

Most of the small fires did not produce particularly large smoke plumes, but the density of the fires led to a rather large pall of smoke over the region as seen in GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images (below). Note the smoke plume emanating from the fire southwest of Salina, Kansas (as previously discussed). Most of the smoke was dispersed above the boundary layer — but the surface visibility was reduced by smoke at sites such as Coffeyville, Chanute and Eureka in southeastern Kansas and Bartlesville in northeastern Oklahoma.

GOES-16 "Red" Visible (0.64 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

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

===== 09 April Update ====

NOAA-20 VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) images [click to enlarge]

NOAA-20 VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) images [click to enlarge]

As some of the larger fires in southern Kansas continued burning into the night, their thermal signature could be seen in NOAA-20 VIIRS Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) image (darker gray to black pixels), along with their bright glow in the corresponding VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) image at 0818 UTC or 3:18 am CDT (above). Note: the NOAA-20 images are incorrectly labeled as Suomi NPP.

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Large hail in Texas

By Scott Bachmeier •

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images with plots of GLM Groups (above) showed a large and electrically-active Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) which produced hail up to 4.5 inches in diameter (SPC storm reports) in eastern Texas on 06 Aprill 2019. These severe thunderstorms intensified generally along and north of a quasi-stationary frontal... Read More

GOES-16

GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images, with GLM Groups plotted in cyan and SPC storm reports plotted in red [click to play animation | MP4]

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images with plots of GLM Groups (above) showed a large and electrically-active Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) which produced hail up to 4.5 inches in diameter (SPC storm reports) in eastern Texas on 06 Aprill 2019. These severe thunderstorms intensified generally along and north of a quasi-stationary frontal boundary (surface analyses).

The corresponding GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (below) showed that cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures associated with the strongest overshooting tops were around -70ºC (dark black enhancement). Earlier that afternoon, a higher spatial resolution Suomi NPP VIIRS Infrared Window (11.45 µm) image at 1950 UTC showed brightness temperatures as cold as -77ºC just northeast of where 2.0-inch diameter hail was reported at Marquez — located approximately midway between station identifiers KLHB and KPSN — at 2015 UTC. Assuming the 00 UTC Lake Charles sounding was representative of the air mass these storms were developing in, the -77ºC temperature would be at an altitude over 1 km higher than the Most Unstable parcel’s Equilibrium Level.

GOES-16 "Clean" Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images, with GLM Groups plotted in beige and SPC storm reports plotted in cyan [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images, with GLM Groups plotted in beige and SPC storm reports plotted in cyan [click to play animation | MP4]

With better cloud-top shadow contrast, GOES-16 Near-Infrared “Snow/Ice” (1.61 µm) images (below) were helpful to locate the presence of Above-Anvil Cirrus Plume (AACP) features with the 2 strongest cells — and a comparison with 10.3 µm Infrared images indicated slightly warmer brightness temperatures with these AACPs (for example, at 2244 UTC and  0005 UTC).

GOES-16 Near-Infrared "Snow/Ice" (1.61 µm) images, with SPC storm reports plotted in red [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 Near-Infrared “Snow/Ice” (1.61 µm) images, with SPC storm reports plotted in red [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 All Sky Total Precipitable Water (TPW) and Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) products (below) showed the areal coverage and trends in moisture and instability across the region on that day.

GOES-16 All Sky Total Precipitable Water (TPW) images [click to play animation]

GOES-16 All Sky Total Precipitable Water (TPW) product [click to play animation]

 

GOES-16 All Sky Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) product [click to play animation]

GOES-16 All Sky Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) product [click to play animation]

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Wildfires on the Korean Peninsula

By Scott Bachmeier •

2.5-minute rapid scan JMA Himawari-8 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images (above) showed numerous thermal anomaly (or “hot spot”, darker red to black pixels) signatures of wildfires across southeastern North Korea and northeastern South Korea on 04 April 2019 (media story). The fires were fanned by strong west-southwest winds in the wake... Read More

JMA Himawari-8 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images, with plots of surface reports (metric units) [click to play animation | MP4]

JMA Himawari-8 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images, with hourly plots of surface reports in metric units [click to play animation | MP4]

2.5-minute rapid scan JMA Himawari-8 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images (above) showed numerous thermal anomaly (or “hot spot”, darker red to black pixels) signatures of wildfires across southeastern North Korea and northeastern South Korea on 04 April 2019 (media story). The fires were fanned by strong west-southwest winds in the wake of a cold frontal passage associated with an anomalously-deep midlatitude cyclone moving across far northeastern China (surface analyses); winds gusted to 53 knots at Yangyang International Airport (station identifier RKNY) to the south of Sokcho at 09 UTC (below). Standing wave clouds — forming in response to the strong westerly winds — were seen downwind of the mountainous terrain of the eastern Korean Peninsula from 1030-1930 UTC.

Time series of surface weather data at Yangyang, South Korea [click to enlarge]

Time series of surface weather data at Yangyang, South Korea [click to enlarge]

Comparisons of VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm), Near-infrared (1.61 µm and 2.25 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.75 µm and 4.05 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images from NOAA-20 at 1649 UTC and Suomi NPP at 1739 UTC are shown below (courtesy of William Straka, CIMSS). A subtle thermal signature of the largest fires — located between Gangneug and Donghae, and also near Sokcho — was even apparent as darker pixels on the Infrared Window (I-Band 5, 11.45 µm) images. On the Day/Night Band images, note the striking lack of city lights in the southeastern portion of North Korea in these nighttime scenes.

NOAA-20 VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm), Near-infrared (1.61 µm and 2.24 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.75 µm and 4.05 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images [click to enlarge]

NOAA-20 VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm), Near-infrared (1.61 µm and 2.25 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.75 µm and 4.05 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images at 1649 UTC [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm), Near-infrared (1.61 µm and 2.24 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.75 µm and 4.05 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm), Near-infrared (1.61 µm and 2.25 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.75 µm and 4.05 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images at 1739 UTC [click to enlarge]

Thermal signatures of the fires were also captured by KMA COMS-1 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) imagery (below), but not as well as with Himawari-8 given the inferior spatial resolution (4 km, vs 2 km for Himawari-8) and image frequency (15 minutes, vs 2.5 minutes with the Himawari-8 Japan Sector).

KMA COMS-1 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images, with hourly plots of surface reports in metric units [click to play animation | MP4]

KMA COMS-1 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images, with hourly plots of surface reports in metric units [click to play animation | MP4]

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Hurricane Force low off the US East Coast

By Scott Bachmeier •

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images (above) showed a cluster of deep convection just to the north of the center of a rapidly-intensifying midlatitude cyclone (surface analyses) off the coast of North Carolina on 02 April 2019. In addition, convection was later seen developing along the north-south cloud band marking the... Read More

GOES-16 "Red" Visible (0.64 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

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

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images (above) showed a cluster of deep convection just to the north of the center of a rapidly-intensifying midlatitude cyclone (surface analyses) off the coast of North Carolina on 02 April 2019. In addition, convection was later seen developing along the north-south cloud band marking the leading edge of the cyclone’s cold front. The rapid deepening of this hurricane force low easily met the criteria of a bomb cyclone — its central pressure dropped 20 hPa in just 12 hours (from 1004 hPa at 18 UTC on 02 April to 984 hPa at 06 UTC on 03 April).

The primary convective cluster began to exhibit a large amount of lightning after 1830 UTC, as seen in plots of GOES-16 GLM Groups (below). To the east of this intensifying convection, one ship report at 18 UTC included winds from the east at 50 knots — in addition, a moderate to heavy shower of hail was being reported and their surface visibility was restricted to 1.25 miles (18 UTC surface analysis).

GOES-16 "Red" Visible (0.64 µm) images, with GLM Groups and surface wind gusts plotted in red [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images, with GLM Groups and surface wind gusts plotted in red [click to play animation | MP4

There were several factors pointing to the development of a sting jet with this storm, as discussed here and here. GOES-16 Low-level (7.3 µm), Mid-level (6.9 µm) and Upper-level (6.2 µm) Water Vapor images (below) revealed distinct areas of warming/drying (darker shades of yellow to orange) that possibly highlighted rapidly-descending air associated with a sting jet (for example, on the 1946 UTC images).

GOES-16 Low-level (7.3 µm), Mid-level (6.9 µm) and Upper-level (6.2 µm) Water Vapor images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 Low-level (7.3 µm), Mid-level (6.9 µm) and Upper-level (6.2 µm) Water Vapor images [click to play animation | MP4]

After 23 UTC, GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (below) portrayed the formation of a large eye-like feature indicative of a warm seclusion (00 UTC surface analysis). Lightning activity remained very high during that time.

GOES-16 "Clean" Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images [click to play MP4 animation]

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]


A comparison between 1-km resolution Terra MODIS Infrared Window (11.0 µm) imagery at 0237 UTC with an Aqua MODIS Sea Surface Temperature product at 1755 UTC on the following afternoon (below) showed that the storm intensified and formed the large eye-like feature over the northern portion of the axis of warmest Gulf Stream water (where SST values were in the 70-76ºF range).

Terra and Aqua MODIS Infrared Window (11.0 µm) images from 0237 UTC and 0649 UTC, along with the Aqua MODIS Sea Surface Temperature product at 1755 UTC [click to enlarge]

Terra MODIS Infrared Window (11.0 µm) image at 0237 UTC, along with the 1755 UTC Aqua MODIS Sea Surface Temperature product [click to enlarge]

With a nighttime overpass of the NOAA-20 satellite at 0651 UTC, the eye-like feature was apparent in VIIRS Infrared Window (11.45 µm) and Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) images (below). Although the Moon was in the Waning Crescent phase (at only 8% of Full), that illumination with the aid of airglow was sufficient to provide a useful “visible image at night” using the Day/Night Band; a streak of bright pixels was due to intense lightning activity within a line of thunderstorms just ahead of the cold front. Note: the NOAA-20 images are incorrectly labeled as Suomi NPP.

NOAA-20 VIIRS Infrared Window (11.45 µµ) and Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) images [click to enlarge]

NOAA-20 VIIRS Infrared Window (11.45 µm) and Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) images, with an overlay of the 06 UTC surface analysis [click to enlarge]

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