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Storm “Doris” affects the British Isles

Storm “Doris” affected the British Isles on 23 February 2017, producing strong winds and heavy rainfall. The mid-latitude cyclone rapidly intensified from a central pressure of 1004 hPa at 12 UTC on 22 February to 972 hPa at 12 UTC on 23 February (surface analyses) . EUMETSAT Meteosat-10 Water Vapor (6.25... Read More

Meteosat-10 Water Vapor (6.25 µm) images, with hourly surface wind gusts in knots [click to play animation]

Meteosat-10 Water Vapor (6.25 µm) images, with hourly surface wind gusts in knots [click to play animation]

Storm “Doris” affected the British Isles on 23 February 2017, producing strong winds and heavy rainfall. The mid-latitude cyclone rapidly intensified from a central pressure of 1004 hPa at 12 UTC on 22 February to 972 hPa at 12 UTC on 23 February (surface analyses) . EUMETSAT Meteosat-10 Water Vapor (6.25 µm) images (above) exhibited the “scorpion tail” signature of a sting jet (Monthly Weather Review | Wikipedia), and surface wind gusts included 58 knots at Dublin, 64 knots at Wittering and 69 knots at Valley.

The corresponding daylight Meteosat-10 High Resolution Visible (0.8 µm) images (below) revealed better detail of the various cloud structures associated with the storm.

Meteosat-10 High Resolution Visible (0.8 µm) images, with hourly surface wind gusts in knots [click to play animation]

Meteosat-10 High Resolution Visible (0.8 µm) images, with hourly surface wind gusts in knots [click to play animation]

True-color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) images from Terra/Aqua MODIS and Suomi NPP VIIRS visualized using RealEarth are shown below. EUMETSAT posted a natural-color RGB animation here.

Terra MODIS (1039 UTC), Aqua MODIS (1226 UTC) and Suomi NPP VIIRS (1248 UTC) true-color RGB images [click to enlarge]

Terra MODIS (1039 UTC), Aqua MODIS (1226 UTC) and Suomi NPP VIIRS (1248 UTC) true-color RGB images [click to enlarge]

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GOES-16: fire detection in Florida

Numerous small fires were burning in the Lake Okeechobee area of southern Florida on 20 February 2017. A comparison of GOES-16 ABI (at rapid scan 30 second intervals) and GOES-13 (at routine 15-30 minute intervals) 3.9 µm Shortwave Infrared images (above; also available as a 71 Mbyte animated GIF) showed the “hot spots” —... Read More

GOES-16 (left) and GOES-13 (right) 3.9 µm Shortwave Infrared images [click to play MP4 animation]

GOES-16 (left) and GOES-13 (right) 3.9 µm Shortwave Infrared images [click to play MP4 animation]

Numerous small fires were burning in the Lake Okeechobee area of southern Florida on 20 February 2017. A comparison of GOES-16 ABI (at rapid scan 30 second intervals) and GOES-13 (at routine 15-30 minute intervals) 3.9 µm Shortwave Infrared images (above; also available as a 71 Mbyte animated GIF) showed the “hot spots” — dark black to yellow to red enhancement, with red being the hottest — associated with these fires. Since many of the fires were agricultural sugar cane burns (which tend to be brief, but intense), the vast majority were not detected using the routine operational 15-30 minute scan interval of GOES-13; only the 30-second interval rapid scan GOES-16 images were able to capture these short-lived events. GOES-16 (the first in the GOES-R series) will provide the capability of 30-second or 60-second images within special Mesoscale Sectors.

The improved spatial resolution of the GOES-16 data (2-km at satellite sub-point, vs 4-km for GOES-13) also aided in the detection and characterization of the small and short-lived fires.

Fire detection points from the NOAA Hazard Mapping System for 20 February are shown below.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System fire detection points [click to enlarge]

NOAA Hazard Mapping System fire detection points [click to enlarge]

Note: GOES-16 data shown on this page are preliminary, non-operational data and are undergoing on-orbit testing.

 

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Sir Ivan Fire pyroCumulonimbus in New South Wales, Australia

Himawari-8 Visible (0.64 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) and Longwave Infrared Window (10.4 µm) images (above / MP4 ; zoomed-in over fire source region: GIF / MP4) showed wildfires burning in New South Wales, Australia on 12 February 2017. The larger Sir Ivan Fire near Dunedoo produced a pyroCumulonimbus (pyroCb) cloud,... Read More

Himawari-8 0.64 µm Visible (top), 3.9 µm Shortwave Infrared (middle) and 10.4 µm Longwave Infrared Window (bottom) images [click to play animation]

Himawari-8 0.64 µm Visible (top), 3.9 µm Shortwave Infrared (middle) and 10.4 µm Longwave Infrared Window (bottom) images [click to play animation]

Himawari-8 Visible (0.64 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) and Longwave Infrared Window (10.4 µm) images (above / MP4 ; zoomed-in over fire source region: GIF / MP4) showed wildfires burning in New South Wales, Australia on 12 February 2017. The larger Sir Ivan Fire near Dunedoo produced a pyroCumulonimbus (pyroCb) cloud, which first cooled below the -40ºC Longwave Infrared brightness temperature “pyroCb threshold” at 0530 UTC (-47ºC) and quickly reached its minimum temperature of -56.6ºC at 0540 UTC. An animation of Himawari-8 true-color images is available here (courtesey of Dan Lindsey, RAMMB/CIRA).

Consecutive true-color images from Suomi NPP VIIRS (0402 UTC) and Aqua MODIS (0405 UTC) viewed using RealEarth (below) showed the large smoke plume about 1.5 hours prior to pyroCb development.

Suomi NPP VIIRS and Aqua MODIS true-color images [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS and Aqua MODIS true-color images [click to enlarge]

A high fire danger was well-anticipated across this portion of Australia:

Some ground-based photos of the pyroCb cloud:


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Northeast US winter storm

A strong winter storm impacted much of the Northeast US on 09 February 2017, dropping up to 24 inches of snow in Maine and producing wind gusts of 70 mph in Massachusetts (WPC storm summary). GOES-13 (GOES-East) Water Vapor (6.5 µm) images with surface fronts and Mean Sea Level Pressure (above) showed the rapid... Read More

GOES-13 Water Vapor (6.5 µm) images, with surface fronts and MSLP pressure [click to play animation]

GOES-13 Water Vapor (6.5 µm) images, with surface fronts and MSLP pressure [click to play animation]

A strong winter storm impacted much of the Northeast US on 09 February 2017, dropping up to 24 inches of snow in Maine and producing wind gusts of 70 mph in Massachusetts (WPC storm summary). GOES-13 (GOES-East) Water Vapor (6.5 µm) images with surface fronts and Mean Sea Level Pressure (above) showed the rapid intensification of the mid-latitude cyclone.

GOES-13 Visible (0.63 µm) images, with hourly surface weather symbols [click to play animation]

GOES-13 Visible (0.63 µm) images, with hourly surface weather symbols [click to play animation]

GOES-13 Visible images (above) and Water Vapor images (below) with hourly surface weather symbols revealed the extent of thunderstorms in the south and heavy snow in the north. A number of sites in New England also reported thundersnow.

GOES-13 Water Vapor (6.5 Âm) images, with hourly surface weather symbols [click to play animation]

GOES-13 Water Vapor (6.5 Âm) images, with hourly surface weather symbols [click to play animation]

Suomi NPP VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm) and infrared Window (11.45 µm) images (below) provided a high-resolution snapshot of the storm at 1708 UTC. Note the areas of banded convective elements both south of the storm center over the Atlantic, and also inland over parts of New England.

Suomi NPP VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images, with surface fronts and MSLP [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images, with surface fronts and MSLP [click to enlarge]

===== 10 February Update =====

Terra and Aqua MODIS false-color RGB images [click to enlarge]

Terra and Aqua MODIS false-color RGB images [click to enlarge]

As the storm moved northward over Newfoundland and Labrador in eastern Canada on 10 February, a toggle between Terra (1601 UTC) and Aqua (1743 UTC) MODIS false-color “snow/cloud discrimination” Red/Green/Blue (RGB) images (above) showed the extent of the snow cover (darker shades of red), although supercooled water droplet clouds (shades of white) persisted over many areas at the times of the 2 images. Glaciated ice crystal clouds also appeared as shades of red.

Snowfall totals in the Canadian Maritimes were as high as 38 cm (15 inches).

 

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