** The GOES-16 data posted on this page are preliminary, non-operational data and are undergoing testing. **

Widespread fog and stratus had developed across southern Alabama and western Georgia during the pre-dawn hours on 04 April 2017. After sunrise, a comparison of 1-minute interval GOES-16 and 15-30 minute interval GOES-13 visible imagery (above) demonstrated the advantage of more frequent scans to monitor the dissipation of fog and stratus. The improved spatial resolution of the GOES-16 0.64 µm “Red visible” band — 0.5 km at satellite sub-point, vs 1 km for GOES-13 — also aided in the detection of smaller-scale river valley fog features.

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** The GOES-16 data posted on this page are preliminary, non-operational data and are undergoing testing. **

GOES-16 Lower-Level (7.3 µm),  Mid-Level (6.9 µm) and Upper-Level (6.2 µm) Water Vapor images (above; also available as an MP4 animation) revealed the circulation associated with a Hurricane Force low over the North Atlantic Ocean (centered southeast of Newfoundland, Canada) on 31 March 2017. Plotted along the left edge of each image panel are hourly surface wind barbs and wind gusts (red, in knots) for St. Johns to the north (plot | text) and Cape Race to the south (plot | text) — winds gusted to 66 knots or 76 mph at Cape Race, and 49 knots or 56 mph at St. Johns (where the winds pushed a surge of sea ice into the harbor).

In a comparison of GOES-16 0.5-km resolution Visible (0.64 µm) and 2-km resolution Water Vapor (6.9 µm) images (below), both lower- and middle-tropospheric structures of the storm could be seen. Plotted on the images are hourly surface wind barbs and wind gusts (red, in knots).

This storm had an interesting history of development. GOES-13 (GOES-East) Water Vapor (6.5 µm) images (below) showed that a southern storm — which was the subject of an Invest (AL90) for possible subtropical storm development — moved northward during the 28-30 March period, eventually merging with another storm that had moved offshore from the eastern US. During the day on 30 March, the sharp dry/moist gradient signature of a well-defined jet streak was then seen moving southeastward into the western edge of the merged system (1015 UTC image), providing energy for rapid intensification on 31 March (surface analyses).

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** The GOES-16 data posted on this page are preliminary, non-operational data and are undergoing testing. **

The Storm Prediction Center issued a Moderate Risk for severe thunderstorms over the southern Plains on 28 March 2017. As a result, both 1-minute GOES-16 Mesoscale Sectors were positioned over that region, providing images at 30-second intervals. ABI 0.5-km resolution Visible (0.64 µm) images with parallax-corrected SPC storm reports of hail and tornadoes (above; also available as a 193 Mbyte animated GIF) showed a very detailed view of the overshooting tops associated with the storms during the 2030-2359 UTC time period.

The images were centered approximately over the Lubbock (KLBB) to Midland (KMAF) to Abilene (KABI) region (below).

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Cyclone Debbie formed in the Coral Sea on 22 March 2017, and eventually intensified to a Category 3 storm (ADT | SATCON) as it moved southward toward Australia. Himawari-8 Visible (0.64 µm) and Infrared Window (10.4 µm) images (above) showed the eye of Debbie as it was making landfall in Queensland, near Prosperpine (YBPN).

The Landsat-8 satellite made an overpass of the eye at 2358 UTC (above), as a large convective burst had developed within the northern semicircle of the eyewall (which was also evident in the corresponding Himawari-8 Visible and Infrared Window images viewed using RealEarth).

Debbie was undergoing an eyewall replacement cycle as the storm center approached the coast — this was evident in Microwave (85 GHz) images from GMI at 1425 (above) and SSMIS at 2017 UTC (below) from the CIMSS Tropical Cyclones site.

The MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product (below; also available as an MP4 animation) showed copious tropical moisture associated with Cyclone Debbie, which led to rainfall accumulations as high as 780 mm (30.7 inches) — with rainfall rates up to 200 mm (7.9 inches) per hour — and record flooding along the coast from Brisbane to Lismore.

 

 

 

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