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Tropical Storm Michael

By Scott Bachmeier •

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (above) showed deep convection associated with Tropical Depression 14 east of Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico early in the day on 07 October 2018. There was a large area of cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures in the -80ºC to -89ºC... Read More

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 MP4 animation]

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (above) showed deep convection associated with Tropical Depression 14 east of Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico early in the day on 07 October 2018. There was a large area of cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures in the -80ºC to -89ºC range (shades of purple), with isolated small pockets of -90ºC or colder (yellow enhancement).

1-minute GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images from the UW-AOS site (below) showed numerous convective overshooting tops.

GOES-16

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

At 1655 UTC the system was upgraded to Tropical Storm Michael — 1-minute GOES-16 Infrared images (below) showed that deep convection persisted in the eastern semicircle of Michael during the remainder of the day.

GOES-16

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

A hint of the elongated low-level circulation could be seen just west of the deep convection on late-day GOES-16 Visible images (below).

GOES-16

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

===== 08 October Update =====

NOAA-20 VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm), Infrared Window (11.45 µm) and ATMS Microwave (88 GHz) images [click to enlarge]

NOAA-20 VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm), Infrared Window (11.45 µm) and ATMS Microwave (88 GHz) images [click to enlarge]

NOAA-20 VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm), Infrared Window (11.45 µm) and ATMS Microwave (88 GHz) images at 0721 UTC (above; courtesy of William Straka, CIMSS) indicated that a well-defined convective band was wrapping around the eastern, northern and northwestern portions of the storm center (with some bright lightning streaks showing up on the DNB image in the southeastern segment of this convective band).

In a comparison of DMSP-18 SSMIS Microwave (86 GHz) and GOES-16 Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images at or shortly after 1115 UTC (below), the Microwave imagery showed a very large eye beneath the convective clusters.

DMSP-18 SSMIS Microwave (86 GHz) and GOES-16 Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images [click to enlarge]

DMSP-18 SSMIS Microwave (86 GHz) and GOES-16 Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images [click to enlarge]

Michael was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane at 15 UTC; 1-minute GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images (below) revealed abundant deep convection around the core of the storm during the 3 hours leading up to that time.

GOES-16

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

Michael had been moving over very warm water since forming on 06 October; analyses of Ocean Heat Content and Sea Surface Temperature (below) showed that while the hurricane was forecast to briefly pass over a region of lower OHC in the far southeastern Gulf of Mexico, the remainder of its journey across the Gulf would be over water possessing modest amounts of OHC and warm SST values of 29-30ºC.

Ocean Heat Content and Sea Surface Temperature analyses, with past and forecast tracks of Michael [click to enlarge]

Ocean Heat Content and Sea Surface Temperature analyses, with past and forecast tracks of Michael [click to enlarge]

Similarly, a relatively cloud-free Terra MODIS Sea Surface Temperature product from 0343 UTC on 06 October (below) showed SST values of 84-85ºF (darker red colors) along much of the forecast path of Hurricane Michael (issued at 2100 UTC on 08 October).

Terra MODIS Sea Surface Temperature product (0343 UTC on 06 October) with Hurricane Michael forecast positions issued at 2100 UTC on 08 October [click to enlarge]

Terra MODIS Sea Surface Temperature product (0343 UTC on 06 October) with forecast positions of Hurricane Michael issued at 2100 UTC on 08 October [click to enlarge]

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Leeside frontal gravity wave moves southward across the Plains

By Scott Bachmeier •

* GOES-17 images shown here are preliminary and non-operational *A strong cold front (surface analyses | max/min temperatures) moved southward across the Plains states during the 03 October – 04 October 2018 period — and GOES-17 Upper-level Water Vapor (6.2 µm) images (above) revealed a distinct leeside frontal gravity wave as it propagated from southern Colorado... Read More

GOES-17 Upper-level Water Vapor (6.2 µm) images, with surface frontal analyses [click to play MP4 animation]

GOES-17 Upper-level Water Vapor (6.2 µm) images, with surface frontal analyses [click to play MP4 animation]

* GOES-17 images shown here are preliminary and non-operational *

A strong cold front (surface analyses | max/min temperatures) moved southward across the Plains states during the 03 October – 04 October 2018 period — and GOES-17 Upper-level Water Vapor (6.2 µm) images (above) revealed a distinct leeside frontal gravity wave as it propagated from southern Colorado and southern Kansas at 05 UTC to southeastern New Mexico and the southern Texas Panhandle by 20 UTC. Thunderstorms formed along the stalled residual wave along the New Mexico/Texas border after 1930 UTC.

Pilot reports of high-altitude “mountain wave” turbulence (below) were seen at 1559 and 1721 UTC, along the north-to-south oriented portion of the gravity wave that had become stationary over eastern New Mexico.

GOES-17 Upper-level Water Vapor (6.2 µm) images, with pilot reports of turbulence [click to enlarge]

GOES-17 Upper-level Water Vapor (6.2 µm) images, with pilot reports of turbulence [click to enlarge]

A 1-km resolution Aqua MODIS Water Vapor (6.7 µm) image at 0807 UTC (below) showed detailed gravity wave structure over Oklahoma.

Aqua MODIS Water Vapor (6.7 µm) image [click to enlarge]

Aqua MODIS Water Vapor (6.7 µm) image [click to enlarge]

A 3-panel comparison of GOES-17 Low-level (7.3 µm), Mid-level (6.9 µm) and Upper-level (6.2 µm) Water Vapor images with plots of surface wind barbs (below) showed how the winds changed to northerly/northeasterly as the cold front passed.

GOES-17 Low-level (7.3 µm, left), Mid-level (6.9 µm, center) and Upper-level (6.2 µm, right) Water Vapor images, with plots of surface wind barbs [click to play MP4 animation]

GOES-17 Low-level (7.3 µm, left), Mid-level (6.9 µm, center) and Upper-level (6.2 µm, right) Water Vapor images, with hourly plots of surface wind barbs [click to play MP4 animation]

Additional images of this event can be found on the Satellite Liaison Blog.

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Severe thunderstorms in Pennsylvania

By Scott Bachmeier •

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images (above) showed severe thunderstorms that moved across Pennsylvania on 02 October 2018, producing large hail, damaging winds and a few tornadoes (SPC storm reports). A parallax-corrected version of the animation — which shifts the location of SPC storm reports northwestward, to be more closely... Read More

GOES-16

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

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images (above) showed severe thunderstorms that moved across Pennsylvania on 02 October 2018, producing large hail, damaging winds and a few tornadoes (SPC storm reports). A parallax-corrected version of the animation — which shifts the location of SPC storm reports northwestward, to be more closely aligned with the storm-top features (assumed to be at a mean altitude of 12 km, based on 00 UTC Pittsburgh rawinsonde data) seen on satellite imagery — is available here.

The corresponding GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (below) indicated that the coldest cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures were in the -60 to -70ºC range (red to black enhancement).

GOES-16

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images, with SPC storm reports plotted in purple [click to play MP4 animation]



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Heavy rainfall in Arizona from the remnants of Rosa

By Scott Bachmeier •

Rosa became a Tropical Storm on 25 September 2018, and reached peak intensity as a Category 4 Hurricane on 28 September. As it gradually weakened and made landfall over Baja California on 02 October, its moisture moved across the US Desert Southwest causing heavy rainfall and flash flooding — parts of... Read More

GOES-16

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images, 25 September – 02 October [click to play MP4 animation]

Rosa became a Tropical Storm on 25 September 2018, and reached peak intensity as a Category 4 Hurricane on 28 September. As it gradually weakened and made landfall over Baja California on 02 October, its moisture moved across the US Desert Southwest causing heavy rainfall and flash flooding — parts of Arizona received record-setting rainfall (NWS Phoenix | NWS Flagstaff), with precipitation rates as high as 1 inch in 30 minutes in the Phoenix area. GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images during the 8 days from 25 September to 02 October (above) showed the life cycle of Rosa.

A closer look at Rosa during that same time period is shown below. The image interval is 15 minutes, except for 5-minute imagery during a test of Mode 4 scanning strategy on 01 October (from 0000-1550 UTC).

GOES-16 "Clean" Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images, 25 September - 02 October [click to play MP4 animation]

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images, 25 September – 02 October [click to play MP4 animation]

The transport of tropical moisture associated with Rosa could be followed using the MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product (below). The moisture over southwestern Arizona on 02 October was >4 standard deviations above normal for that region and time of year.

MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product, 25 September - 02 October [click to play MP4 animation | MP4]

MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product, 25 September – 02 October [click to play MP4 animation | MP4]

The increase in deep tropical moisture was very evident in plots of rawinsonde data from Tucson, Arizona (below) — Total Precipitable Water peaked at 43.9 mm or 1.73 inches at 12 UTC on 01 October.

Plots of rawinsonde data from Tucson, Arizona 30 September - 02 October [click to enlarge]

Plots of rawinsonde data from Tucson, Arizona 30 September – 02 October [click to enlarge]



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