The shadow of the total solar eclipse of 09 March 2016 was captured by a number of geostationary satellites, including JMA Himawari-8 (above; also available as either a large 140 Mbyte animated GIF, or a YouTube video: large) | small) and KMA COMS-1 (below). The Himawari-8 true-color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) images were created using the Simple Hybrid Contrast Stretch (SHCS) method by Yasuhiko Sumida, SSEC visiting scientist from JMA.

Toward the end of the eclipse, the shadow was also seen with NOAA GOES-15 (below) as it moved northwest and north of Hawai’i.

In addition, the eclipse shadow was captured with the Chinese satellites FY-2E and FY-2G (below).

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An area of low pressure rapidly intensified off the US East Coast during the 04 March – 05 March 2016 period (surface analyses). GOES-13 (GOES-East) Water Vapor (6.5 µm) images (above; also available as a large 57 Mbyte animated gif) showed classic signatures of the various stages of strong mid-latitude cyclone development — most notably the formation of a well-defined comma head and dry slot. Even though the storm was well offshore, impacts near and along the coast included snowfall amounts as high as 6.7 inches at Princess Anne, Maryland, 5.0 inches at Montross, Virginia, and 2.6 inches at Topsfield, Massachusetts; winds gusted to 55 mph at Jennettes Pier, North Carolina and 53 mph at Nantucket, Massachusetts. In Newfoundland, Gander received 17.3 inches of snow, and winds gusted to 77 mph at Cape Pine.

Aqua MODIS Water Vapor (6.7 µm), Infrared Window (11.0 µm), and Visible (0.65 µm) images at 1737 UTC (above) and Suomi NPP VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images at 1722 UTC (below) showed the storm around the time the Ocean Prediction Center indicated that it began producing hurricane force winds (18 UTC analysis).

A sequence of POES AVHRR Infrared (12.0 µm) images at 1852, 2205, and 0100 UTC along with Metop ASCAT surface scatterometer winds (below) showed the storm as it continued to intensify. Even though AWIPS labeled the ASCAT winds with a time stamp of 0228 UTC, cursor sampling found winds as strong as 57 knots south of the storm center and 59 knots north of the storm center at 0155-0156 UTC.

The Ocean Prediction Center posted an animation of Geocolor images of the storm on Twitter:

Geocolor satellite showing hurricane force low developing off SE coast over past few days & then turning NE. #GRPG pic.twitter.com/1uJmhHxfPs

— NWS OPC (@NWSOPC) March 7, 2016

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GOES-13 (GOES-East ) Visible (0.63 µm) images centered over Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and central New York state (below) showed a variety of aircraft “hole punch” and “dissipation trails” over the eastern Great Lakes on 03 March 2016.

These cloud features were caused by aircraft that were either ascending or descending through layers of cloud composed of supercooled water droplets, which covered much of the region as shown by the POES AVHRR Cloud Type product at 1545 UTC (below). Cooling from wake turbulence (reference) and/or the particles from the jet engine exhaust acting as ice condensation nuclei cause the small water droplets to turn into larger ice crystals (which then often fall from the cloud layer, creating “fall streak holes“). Similar features have been discussed in previous blog posts.

There were numerous pilot reports of light to moderate icing between FL120 and FL160 (flight level 12,000-16,000 feet) when passing through the supercooled water droplet cloud layers (below). The pilot report altitudes agree well with the POES AVHRR Cloud Top Height product values of 4-5 km over Lake Erie at 1545 UTC.

A comparison of 250-meter resolution Terra MODIS true-color and false-color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) images at 1649 UTC as visualized using RealEarth (below) indicated that the cloud material in the center of the aircraft dissipation trail over the north shore of Lake Erie had glaciated (snow, ice, and ice crystal clouds exhibit a darker cyan appearance on the false-color image).

A panorama photo from the ground was taken in Binghamton, New York (station identifier KBGM, located near the center of the New York GOES-13 images):

#Holepunch cloud (panorama) over Broome & Chenango County from ground & ~22,000 miles above. pic.twitter.com/s0TsCMeBxR

— HowardManges (@HowardManges) March 3, 2016

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A strong winter storm produced a swath of winter weather from Arkansas through lower Michigan on 23-24 February. GOES-14 SRSO-R Imagery was centered on the occluded storm on 24 February, and the water vapor animation, above (available here as an animated gif image), shows strong flow north-northwest from the Mid-Atlantic states into the Upper Midwest, where Winter Storm and Blizzard Warnings were widespread. The end of the animation shows strong convection developing over the Mid-Altantic states where multiple reports of Severe Weather occurred. (A water vapor animation with weather symbols included is available here as an mp4 and here as an animated gif).

The thermal structure of the storm as revealed by Rapid Refresh analyses of the 310 Kelvin Equivalent Potential Temperature Surface, above, (and available here with contours of Mean Sea Level Pressure) suggests the presence of a Trough of Warm Air Aloft (TROWAL) that stretches from Tennessee to Michigan. Any dry air that moves northward over this region is likely to eroded from below as low-level moisture (not detected in the water vapor imagery) is forced upwards by frontogenetic circulations along the sloping isentropes. Note how cold cloud tops in the animation above appear with regularity over southern Michigan and northern Indiana. These cold clouds tops in the water vapor imagery could be manifestations of frontal forcings acting on the warm air in the TROWAL airstream. Simulated ABI Water Vapor Channels (available here or here), below, show the blossoming of cold cloud tops in the 7.3 µm channel. This toggle between the 6.2µm and 7.3µm channels at 2100 UTC shows how the different water vapor channels view different levels in the atmosphere because of different sensitivity to water vapor absorption at those two wavelengths: the 7.3µm channel typically sees deeper into the troposphere and therefore has warmer brightness temperatures.

When storms move north to the west of the spine of the Appalachians, downslope winds frequently cause clearing, and this occurred on 24 February, as shown in the half-hourly animation of GOES-13 Visible imagery above. Clear skies are widespread over southeastern Ohio and southwestern Pennsylvania. Cities in the region that cleared saw high temperatures in the mid-60s today. The visible imagery above shows evidence of strong shear in the warm sector (where SPC had issued a Moderate Risk). GOES-14 1-minute Visible Imagery for the 30 minutes ending at 2230 UTC, available here, shows a line of strong convection from the Piedmont of North Carolina northward to metropolitan Washington DC.

Visible SRSO-R Imagery from GOES-14, above, shows the strong storms moving rapidly to the northeast along a line stretching from Washington DC south to central North Carolina as the sun set on 24 February. (Animation available here as an mp4). Another animation of GOES-14 visible images centered on Virginia and North Carolina (covering the period from 1300-2159 UTC) with plots of station identifiers is available as an MP4 or an animated GIF.

====================================================The NOAA/CIMSS ProbSevere model combines information about the storm environment (from the Rapid Refresh) with satellite indicators of cloud growth and with radar estimates of hail size. It is designed to predict when a developing convective cell will first produce severe weather. In the animation above, a growing cell has developed over South Carolina. At the start of the animation, 2134 UTC, the cell is displaying moderate growth rate, and weak glaciation. Two minutes later, at 2136 UTC, ProbSevere has jumped to 62% as the MRMS MESH (Maximum Expected Size of Hail) has jumped from 0.32 to 0.67 inches. By 2144 UTC, ProbSevere exceeds 90%, and it retains that value through the end of the animation at 2250 UTC. This cell produced wind damage three miles northwest of Brownsville SC at 2130 UTC. (SPC Storm Reports). The cell was associated with other wind events in Robeson County, NC at 2155 UTC.

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