Meteosat-10 0.635 µm visible channel images (click to play animation)

McIDAS images of EUMETSAT Meteosat-10 0.635 µm visible channel data (above; click image to play animation) showed the cloud structure associated with a powerful midlatitude cyclone that was moving northeastward toward the British Isles on 04 February 2014. This storm — the latest in a series of intense North Atlantic Ocean storms to batter the region during the winter of 2013/2014 — produced very strong winds (gusting to 92 mph on the Isle of Scilly), heavy rain, and flooding; power was cut to over 40,000 customers, and rail service was disrupted.

The evolution of the storm could be seen on hourly composites of geostationary and polar-orbiting satellite water vapor channel imagery covering the 03-05 February period (below), visualized using the SSEC RealEarth web map server. As the large storm began to dissipate, another system could be seen developing upstream over the North Atlantic Ocean. Also of note are the subtle wave structures that could be seen in the water vapor imagery downwind of the Azores, caused by strong winds interacting with the high terrain of the islands (the tallest point is Pico, at 2,351 meters or 7,713 ft).

Composite of water vapor channel imagery (click to play animation)

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GOES-13 false-color RGB images (click to play animation)

After 2 days of renewed activity, the Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador produced some minor eruptions punctuated by a single large eruption on 01 February 2014. GOES-13 false-color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) images specifically tailored to help identify and track volcanic features (above; click image to play animation) showed (1) the southeastward drift of the initial volcanic plume (estimated to be as high as 26,000 feet) from 19:45 – 22:15 UTC, followed by (2) the rapid expansion and southward drift of the larger volcanic plume (estimated to be as high as 45,000 feet) after 22:45 UTC, and (3) another smaller volcanic plume (estimated to be as high as 23,000 feet) drifting southeastward after 02:45 UTC on 02 February.

McIDAS images of GOES-13 3.9 µm shortwave IR data (below; click image to play animation) revealed the presence of a distinct “hot spot” (dark black to yellow to red enhancement) at the summit of the volcano after 22:45 UTC — the hottest pixel detected was 338.5 K or 66.4º C at 00:45 UTC on 02 February.

GOES-13 3.9 µm shortwave IR images (click to play animation)

As the sun was setting, the rapidly-rising volcanic ash plume associated with the stronger eruption cast a long shadow toward the east-northeast on the 22:45 UTC GOES-13 0.63 µm visible channel image (below).

GOES-13 0.63 µm visible channel image

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Suomi NPP VIIRS 0.64 µm visible channel and Snow/cloud discrimination RGB images

An AWIPS II image comparison of Suomi NPP VIIRS 0.64 µm visible channel data and the corresponding “Snow/cloud discrimination” Red/Green/Blue (RGB) product (above) provided a glimpse of many of the areas of ice coverage on the Great Lakes at 18:06 UTC on 29 January 2014. Ice began to increase (especially across the western Great Lakes) in late January following one of the more significant arctic outbreaks of the 2013/2014 winter season. On the RGB image, snow and ice appear as varying shades of red, in contrast to supercooled water droplet clouds which appear as shades of white.

Terra and Aqua MODIS true-color images (28 January)

On the previous day (28 January), comparisons between 17:28 UTC Terra and 19:12 UTC Aqua MODIS true-color RGB images from the SSEC MODIS Today site revealed the amount of sea ice motion in the relatively short time (approximately 100 minutes) between the 2 images, a result of fairly strong winds blowing over the nearshore waters. The MODIS image comparisons are centered over the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (above), and over southern Lake Michigan (below).

Terra and Aqua MODIS true-color images (28 January)

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Terra and Aqua MODIS true-color images (29 January)

On 29 January, similar comparisons of the 16:34 UTC Terra and 18:16 UTC Aqua MODIS true-color RGB images showed a better view of the multiple long and narrow ice floes in northern lake Michigan (above), and showed how much ice in southern Lake Michigan had been blown across the lake and against the southeastern shore (below).

Terra and Aqua MODIS true-color images (29 January)

===== 31 January Update =====

Landsat 8 Panochromatic (0.59 µm Band 8) image

A 15-meter resolution Landsat 8 Panochromatic (0.59 µm Band 8) image from the SSEC RealEarth web map server (above) showed the ice coverage in the far western portion of Lake Superior on 31 January. Land-fast ice in the Apostle Islands area of Wisconsin (located in the eastern part of the image) was thicker and snow-covered, giving it a brighter white appearance.

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Suomi NPP VIIRS 0.64 µm visible channel and False-color RGB images

A strong and persistent ridge of high pressure aloft (GOES water vapor image animation) along with a northward push of unusually warm air behind a poleward-moving frontal boundary (GOES IR image animation) helped some locations in Alaska set all-time record high temperatures for the month of January (including 51º F at Nome and 52º F at Denali National Park). An AWIPS I image comparison of 1-km resolution Suomi NPP VIIRS 0.64 µm visible channel data and the corresponding false-color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) product at 23:57 UTC on 27 January 2014 (above) showed generally cloud-free conitions over much of the northwestern quarter of Alaska — at that time Nome (station identifier PAOM) had a surface air temperature of 50º F, with offshore (east-northeasterly) winds. The Nome airport reported a snow depth of 12 inches on the morning of 27 January — however, there were several areas of bare ground (which appear as shades of cyan in the RGB image) scattered across the Seward Peninsula. Snow and ice appear as varying shades of red on the RGB image; supercooled water droplet clouds appear as shades of white, with ice crystal clouds taking on a pink to lighter red hue.

About an hour and a half earlier (22:14 UTC on 27 January), a closer look at the Seward Peninsula region using AWIPS II full-resolution (250 meter) Suomi NPP VIIRS visible and false-color RGB images (below) showed even more detail in terms of the location and size of the bare ground areas, with a few upwind of Nome (which was located approximately in the center of the images). Full sunshine and winds blowing across areas of snow-free ground likely helped to warm the air that was moving toward Nome. In addition to setting the all-time January high temperature of 51º F, the morning low that day of 38º F was also the warmest January minimum temperature on record for Nome.

Suomi NPP VIIRS 0.64 µm visible channel and False-color RGB images

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