On 08 July 2014 a comparison of GOES-15 (GOES-West) and GOES-13 (GOES-East) 0.63 µm visible channel images (above; click image to play animation; also available as an MP4 movie file) showed the southward and southeastward transport of dense smoke from wildfires that were burning in the Northwestern Territories of Canada. Over the Lower 48 states, the leading edge of the smoke made it as far south as Iowa and northern Illinois. The bulk of the dense smoke was aloft, but at the surface the visibility was reduced to 3-5 miles at some locations in North Dakota.

The above example serves as a good demonstration of the principle of “forward scattering”: the smoke was more evident on visible imagery from GOES-15  early in the day (as the sun was rising), and more evident on visible imagery from GOES-13 later in the day (as the sun was setting).

Suomi NPP VIIRS true-color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) images from the SSEC RealEarth web map server (below) showed the areal coverage of the hazy pall of smoke on 06 July, 07 July, and 08 July.

The IDEA-I forward airmass trajectory model applied to targets of high Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) which were detected by the Terra MODIS instrument over Canada on 08 July are shown below. Such a tool can be used as an aid in air quality forecasting.

===== 09 July Update =====

The Terra MODIS AOD product (below; click to play animation) indicated that the leading edge of the Canadian wildfire smoke had advanced as far southward as northwestern Missouri. The bulk of the highest AOD values over the Dakotas was forecast to be transported slowly east-northeastward toward the Great Lakes region.

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Typhoon Neoguri is forecast to move west of Okinawa later today. The visible images above, from COMS-1 (left) and MTSAT-2 (right) show the storm at around 0800 UTC on 7 July 2014. A distinct eye filled with low-level clouds is apparent.

Magnified views of the storm center (above; click image to play animation; also available as an MP4 movie file) revealed the presence of mesovortices within the eye of Neoguri. The more frequent imaging schedule of COMS-1 (generally every 15 minutes, compared to every 30 minutes with MTSAT-2) allowed the cyclonic circulation of the mesovortices to be more easily identified. Another curious feature seen on the early morning visible imagery was a northwest-to-southeast oriented “cloud cliff” shadow just north of the eye, which was cast by the taller clouds of an eyewall convective burst just to the east. This same signature was seen again on the following morning, in nearly the same location relative to the eye (MTSAT-2 visible/IR image comparison).

ASCAT winds from METOP-B (above) show the structure of the typhoon, with 70-knot winds indicated. The Sea Surface Temperature (SST) image (taken from the CIMSS Tropical Cyclones site) also shows the extreme warmth of the western Pacific Ocean.

Infrared imagery from the past 24 hours show a decline in the satellite structure of the storm. Cold cloud tops have eroded from the northern and western quadrants of the storm, and a circular ring of cold cloud tops around the eye is no longer apparent.

Suomi NPP overflew the storm on Saturday 5 July at 1620 UTC. The color-enhanced VIIRS 11.45 IR image, above (courtesy William Straka, SSEC/CIMSS), shows very cold cloud tops (185 K) southeast of a developing eye.

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GOES-13 6.5 µm water vapor channel images with overlays of surface pressure and frontal analyses (above) showed Category 2 Hurricane Arthur (NHC discusions | blog post) transitioning to a powerful extratropical (or “post-tropical”) storm as it moved northward over the Maritime Provinces of Canada on 05 July 2014. Impacts of Hurricane Arthur along the East Coast of the US included a peak wind gust of 101 mph at Cape Lookout, North Carolina, and over 6 inches of rainfall in eastern Maine.

A long animation of 4-km resolution GOES-13 6.5 µm water vapor channel images covering the period 00:15 UTC on 05 July to 12:15 UTC on 06 July (below; click image to play animation; also available as an MP4 movie file) showed a very pronounced area of dry air (bright yellow to red color enhancement) wrapping into the circulation of the storm. Also evident on the water vapor imagery was the subsequent development of a “sting jet” signature along the southwestern and southern flank of the storm — this feature was associated with very strong winds (peak gust of 138 km/h or 86 mph) being transported down to the surface over parts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (Canadian Hurricane Centre statement). The sting jet signature resembles a “scorpion tail” (22:45 UTC image); note that there is a significant parallax offset with the >50 degree satellite viewing angle of GOES-13 imagery over this region, so the sting jet signature was actually located farther to the south over Nova Scotia (where the strongest surface winds were observed). Other notable sting jet cases appear here, here and here.

As an aside, it is interesting to examine the effect that the northeastward passage of Hurricane Arthur had on the pattern of sea surface temperatures in the far western Atlantic Ocean off the East Coast of the US. The Suomi NPP VIIRS Sea Surface Temperature (SST) product at 17:27 UTC on 05 July (below) revealed a number of filaments and eddies along the path of the tropical cyclone. A comparison with the 00 UTC 05 July Real-Time Global Sea Surface Temperature High-Resolution (RTG_SST_HR) analysis showed that even a 1/12 degree resolution model had difficulty resolving many of these subtle SST features — this helps to underscore the value of high-spatial resolution satellite imagery for making highly-accurate assessments of such fields as SST.

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04 July Update: a 1-km resolution Terra MODIS 11.0 µm IR image (above) showed the eye of Category 2 Hurricane Arthur making landfall along the coast of North Carolina around 03:13 UTC or 11:15 pm Eastern Time. Arthur was the earliest hurricane to make landfall in North Carolina since records began in 1851 (the previous record was 11 July, 1901).

[5:45 PM EDT 3 July 2014 Update: The animation of GOES-13 visible images above, ending at 21:45 UTC or 5:45 PM Eastern Daylight Time, shows Hurricane Arthur very close to the North Carolina coast. Convection continues redeveloping in the circulation close to the eye.]

The original VIIRS image, above (courtesy of Russ Dengel), was clipped from this link. An animation of VIIRS True-Color imagery of Arthur (courtesy of Kathy Strabala), taken from the Webmap server at SSEC is shown below.

Tropical Storm Arthur has strengthened overnight to become the first hurricane of the Atlantic Tropical Season. The storm-centered animation above, from GOES-East, (click here for an animation without the map) shows evidence of the relaxation in wind shear that has allowed intensification. At the beginning of the animation, most convection is to the east and south of the system. By 3 July, convection is much closer to the center of the strengthening storm and an outflow channel to the southeast has developed; a distinct eye is present by 2045 UTC on 3 July. Note that in the color enhancement that the coldest cloud tops — purple — are cooler than -80° C. This image (from this website) shows Arthur, at 1500 UTC on 3 July 2014, under a minimum in wind shear. (Zoomed-in version of wind shear).

The tropical cyclone has been moving due north over the past 24 hours, but the National Hurricane Center notes that a recurvature to the northeast is occurring now. Interests along the South and North Carolina coasts should pay special attention to forecasts for today and tomorrow.

Visible imagery from 1400 UTC, above, does not yet show an eye, and strongest winds at that time remained offshore. Moored Buoy 41004 (41 miles southeast of Charleston, SC, at 32°30’2″ N 79°5’58” W) shows tropical-storm force-winds; a plot of the pressure and winds at the station, below, suggests an approaching storm.

Suomi NPP overflew Arthur in the early morning of July 3rd, affording a high-resolution view of the convective clouds. The coldest overshooting tops, around -85°C are far to the east of the surface circulation, but a large cirrus shield with temperatures near -75°C is over the storm center. The Day/Night band shows little contrast because the Quarter Moon set at 0400 UTC and therefore no lunar illumination is available. A few lightning streaks in the convection around Arthur are present. Lightning is far more common in the convection over the northeast Gulf of Mexico.

MODIS imagery over Arthur was available from Terra at 1613 UTC today. A variety of channels are shown above — Visible imagery (0.64 µm), the Snow/Ice Channel (a wavelength of 1.6 µm, at which snow/ice strongly absorb radiation and therefore appear dark), the Cirrus channel (a wavelength of 1.38 µm, at which cirrus clouds are strongly reflective and are therefore highlighted), the Water Vapor channel (6.7 µm, showing the height of the top of the moist layer) and the Infrared channel near 11 µm.

Previous Tropical Storm Arthurs passed near the North Carolina coast in 1996 (a swirl in mid-level clouds with little deep convection) and in 2002 (a mass of convection that obscured any circulation).

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