GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (above) showed the Spring Fire which began burning just west of La Veta Pass (station identifier KVTP) in south-central Colorado on 27 June 2018. The fire produced a small pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb) cloud around 0100 UTC, which drifted slowly to the northeast. The 10.3 µm cloud-top infrared brightness temperature cooled below the -40ºC (lime green enhancement) pyroCb threshold.

===== 29 June Update =====

A nighttime comparison of NOAA-20 VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.75 µm and 4.05 µm) and Near-Infrared (1.61 µm and 2.25 µm) images at 0852 UTC or 2:52 am MST on 29 June (above; courtesy of William Straka, CIMSS) showed the visible and thermal signatures of the Spring Fire. With ample illumination from the Moon (in the Waning Gibbous phase, at 98% of full), the hazy signature of smoke could be seen drifting northeastward past the Colorado/Kansas border.

View only this post Read Less

Onset of the #SierraNegra #eruption (#Galapagos) in the afternoon of June 26 captured by GOES & other satellites. The previous two Sierra Negra eruptions (1979 & 2005) both emitted a lot of SO2.

Source: @NOAA/@UWCIMSS volcanic cloud monitoring system; https://t.co/OZWmWBOVs9 pic.twitter.com/Gg3Yqw6pp3

— Simon Carn (@simoncarn) June 27, 2018

GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm), Mid-level Water Vapor (6.9 µm) and Low-level Water Vapor (7.3 µm) images beginning late in the day on 26 June 2018 (below) showed that a signature of the volcanic plume was evident in the 7.3 µm imagery for several hours after it was no longer seen in the 10.3 µm or 6.9 µm imagery — this is due to the fact that the 7.3 µm spectral band is also sensitive to SO2 absorption (and this volcanic eruption produced large amounts of SO2).

Gigantic volcanic sulfur dioxide plume from the #SierraNegra volcano on the #GalapagosIslands over the tropical eastern Pacific as seen by the #TROPOMI satellite instrument, 28 June 2018. Source ESA/BIRA/DLR/KNMI, preliminary TROPOMI SO2 data. pic.twitter.com/iRGQfRXv39

— Jos (@weerrecords) July 2, 2018

View only this post Read Less

GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (above) showed the development of thunderstorms which produced small hail and widespread damaging winds (SPC storm reports) across the Southeast US on 25 June 2018.

A closer view of the storms was provided by GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images (below).

A toggle between an 1854 UTC Aqua MODIS Infrared Window (11.0 µm) image and the corresponding Total Precipitable Water derived product (below) showed that abundant moisture was in place across the region — as pointed out by a SPC Mesoscale Discussion, TPW values in excess of 2.0 inches (50 mm, violet enhancement) suggested that wet microbursts were likely with any thunderstorms that developed.

Our #GOESEast Geostationary Lightning Mapper captured the strong storms over #SouthCarolina and #Georgia yesterday – the red areas indicate the most frequent #lightning flashes over a 5 minute period. See more #lightningfromspace here: https://t.co/P1F11zXUHI pic.twitter.com/o39XZT6OuX

— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) June 26, 2018

View only this post Read Less

GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (above) showed the development of a number of Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) features across the southern Plains (with a focus on Kansas and Oklahoma) after sunset on 23 June 2018. A Mesoscale Domain Sector was positioned over that region, providing images at 1-minute intervals; SPC storm reports are plotted in cyan.

A toggle between Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images at 0748 UTC or 2:48 am CDT (below) showed two MCS features — one with its core in north-central Oklahoma and another over eastern Oklahoma. Features exhibited by the northern storm included numerous bright lightning streaks on the Day/Night Band image, with one cluster located over an area of damaging wind reports. The minimum cloud-top infrared brightness temperature associated with this storm was -86ºC (violet enhancement). Over Kansas, packets of gravity waves could be seen on both images, propagating radially outward from the storm core along the cloud top. The combination of lightning and damaging winds (which downed power poles) led to power outages that lasted into the next evening (map | provider listing) across parts of Oklahoma.

With the MCS over eastern Oklahoma, a large cluster of bright lightning streaks was co-located with the overshooting top (which had a minimum cloud-top infrared brightness temperature of -80ºC) — and a distinct above-anvil cirrus plume could be seen flowing east-southeastward from the overshooting top.

About 48 minutes later, a 0836 UTC overpass of the NOAA-20 satellite provided similar VIIRS Day/Night Band and Infrared Window images (below). However, in that relatively short amount of time the Moon had moved to a position low on the western horizon, providing much less illumination of the cloud tops for the Day/Night Band image. Another striking difference was the presence of long black or dark gray “post-saturation recovery streaks” downstream of bright clusters of lightning in north-central Oklahoma — as the VIIRS instrument scanned across-track (from northwest to southeast), the Day/Night Band optical detectors became saturated by the brightness of the intense lightning activity. The minimum cloud-top infrared brightness temperature in eastern Oklahoma was -86ºC.

View only this post Read Less