A toggle between Terra MODIS True Color Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images (from the MODIS Today site) on 06 June, 05 July and 09 July 2018 (above) revealed the brightening yellow-green hues of blooming canola fields across parts of northeastern North Dakota and southern Manitoba. Note that changes can even be seen between the 2 days in early July!

Credit to NWS Grand Forks for alerting us to this interesting phenomenon.

Using @NOAASatellites' #GOES16 "true color" capability, we can see vast fields of blooming #canola within northern North Dakota into the Canadian southern prairie provinces shaded in speckled hues of yellow. ? #ndwx #mbwx #ndag #mbag pic.twitter.com/pOzBgDukY3

— NWS Grand Forks (@NWSGrandForks) July 10, 2018

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Tropical Depression Number 3 was upgraded to Tropical Storm Chris at 0900 UTC 8 July. Chris has been mostly stationary on 8 July. The visible animation, above, from Sunday 8 July shows excellent upper-level outflow to the northeast and southwest of the storm, and persistent convection over the center.  The Clean Window animation over the same time, below, shows a compact center with periodic overshooting tops.

The toggle below between 2212 UTC on 6 and 8 July shows the general increase in organization of Chris, with a slight northwestward motion over the two days. In addition, the front that was over the eastern United States on 6 July is out over the Atlantic on 8 July, and Chris is embedded within the southwestern tail of the front.

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Tropical Depression Three has formed in the Atlantic Ocean southeast of Cape Hatteras. The visible animation above (click the image to play an animated gif) shows strong convection with overshooting tops mostly south and west of a low-level circulation. The cold front over the eastern United States, and an upper-level Low that is moving inland over Florida, are also apparent. Because the depression is within GOES-16’s CONUS Domain, 5-minute imagery is available to monitor this system.

A variety of GOES-16 images and products can be used to discern whether this storm will develop (The National Hurricane Center suggests slow motion and slow development: Click here for details).

The low-level Water Vapor field, below (7.34 µm) from 2122 UTC, shows little dry air in the path of the storm. The Total Precipitable Water derived from GOES-16 ABI data similarly shows rich moisture surrounding the storm.

GOES-16 Estimates of Sea Surface Temperature, below, color-enhanced such that waters warmer than 27 º C are violet, shows warm surface waters. Gulf Stream temperatures, northwest of the Depression, are at 30-31 º C.

For more information on this system, please see the website of the National Hurricane Center and the CIMSS Tropical Weather Website.

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Typhoon Maria underwent a period of rapid intensification (ADT | SATCON) while it was just northwest of Guam late in the day on 05 July 2018, becoming the first Category 5 Super Typhoon of the 2018 West Pacific season. Rapid-scan Himawari-8 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.4 µm) images (above) showed Maria during this period of rapid intensification. Cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures reached -80ºC (violet enhancement) at times in the eyewall of the storm.

A GPM GMI Microwave (85 GHz) image from the CIMSS Tropical Cyclones site (below) showed the pinhole eye of Maria around the time it reached Category 5 intensity. The tropical cyclone was moving over water with high values of Ocean Heat Content — and was in an environment characterized by low values of Deep-layer Wind Shear.

Mesovortices could be seen within the eye on Himawari-8 Visible imagery (below). However, note how the eye became less distinct and increased in diameter toward the end of the animation.

Shortly after 00 UTC on 06 July, Maria began the process of an eyewall replacement cycle as shown in MIMIC TC morphed microwave imagery (below) — and during the following 6-12 hours a decreasing trend in storm intensity was seen (ADT | SATCON).

A toggle between Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images at 1603 UTC on 06 July (below; courtesy of William Straka, CIMSS) showed Category 4 Typhoon Maria after the eye had filled following the eyewall replacement cycle.

===== 08 July Update =====

Super Typhoon Maria re-intensified to Category 5 intensity at 12 UTC on 08 July (SATCON) — Himawari-8 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.4 µm) images (above) displayed a large (30 nautical mile wide) eye. The subtle signature of mesovortices could be seen rotating within the eye.

During the preceding daylight hours, Himawari-8 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images (below) showed the eye mesovortices in better detail.

However, Maria was again downgraded to a Category 4 storm at 00 UTC on 09 July, as another eyewall replacement cycle took place (DMSP-17 microwave image) and the storm began to move over water having slightly cooler Sea Surface Temperature and Ocean Heat Content. The eye and its mesovortices continued to be prominent in Himawari-8 Visible and Infrared imagery (below).

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