GOES-15 (left) and GOES-13 (right) 0.63 µm visible images (click image to play animation)

The White Rock Fire — likely caused by a lightning strike — began in far eastern Nevada (near the Nevada/Utah border) late in the day on 01 June 2012. The fire quickly grew in size on 02 June — and a comparison of GOES-15 (GOES-West) and GOES-13 (GOES-East) 0.63 µm visible channel images (above; click image to play animation) offered another good example of how the viewing ange of different satellites can help to highlight different features associated with a large wildfire.

An abundance of dry fuels helped this to become a very hot fire, which produced bursts of pyrocumulus clouds which rose high above the top of the thick smoke plume. With the afternoon sun in the west, the view from the GOES-West satellite yeilded bright illumination of the overshooting pyrocumulus towers, while the view from GOES-East gave a better view of the long shadows cast by the pyrocumulus towers. In addition, with a favorable forward scattering angle later in the day, GOES-East also provided a better depiction of the areal coverage of the airborne smoke (03 June / 01:00 UTC image comparison).

Sadly, an air tanker carrying fire retardant to help contain this wildfire crashed on the afternoon of 03 June, killing both crewmembers.

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GOES Sounder DPI Lifted Index 1600 UTC on May 30 2012

Satellite descriptors of the atmosphere over the central High Plains on May 30th suggested an atmosphere ripe for convection. For example, the GOES Sounder DPI Lifted Index showed an axis of instability from central Oklahoma to northwest Kansas, with widespread values (yellows, reds, purples) at or below -4. (The unstable area overlaps nicely with the slight risk for the day diagnosed for the day by the Storm Prediction Center). The NearCasting product (below, and available on-line here) suggests that convective instability will persist over southern Nebraska and extend southward into Oklahoma for most of the day.

GOES-13 NearCast product (click image to play animation)

GOES-13 Visible Imagery and UW Cloud-Top Cooling Rate (click image to play animation)

Given this type of environment, what can cloud-top cooling rate tell you? The Cloud-Top Cooling Rate is a satellite-based product that diagnoses how quickly the growing convective towers are cooling with time, and strong cooling means rapid vertical convective growth. The strongest cooling is where the strongest convective growth is occurring, and that cooling is well-correlated with the subsequent development of NEXRAD signatures (MESH, maximum VIL, reflectivity at -10 C, etc.) The loop above shows GOES-13 visible imagery with the cloud-top cooling rate superimposed. (Real-time imagery of the cloud-top cooling rate product is available here) The The cloud-top cooling rate product highlights a persistently and quickly growing convective feature near McCook, Nebraska before and shortly after 1700 UTC. By 1800 UTC, that feature is a severe thunderstorm warned for high winds and hail.

The UW Cloud-Top Cooling Rate product is being evaluated at the Hazardous Weather Testbed taking place this month. At the HWT Blog, there are many examples of using the product in concert with knowledge of the synoptic and mesoscale conditions to anticipate strong thunderstorm development.

SPC storm reports show that the system with the strong Cloud-Top Cooling Rate subsequently produced 1-inch hail near Holdrege.

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GOES-13 0.63 µm visible channel images (click image to play animation)

On 30 May 2012, the Whitewater-Baldy Fire complex was declared to be the largest fire on record for the state of New Mexico, having burned over 170,000 acres. On the previous day (29 May), GOES-13 0.63 µm visible channel images (above; click image to play animation) showed a vary large column of smoke that was drifting eastward across New Mexico into Texas.

A sequence of daily (early afternoon) 250-meter resolution MODIS true color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) images from the SSEC MODIS Today site (below; click image to play animation) displayed the variability in smoke plume size and direction as the fire continued to grow after 15 May. Much of the thicker smoke was confined to higher altitudes, but some smoke did settle into the boundary layer and create air quality problems downwind of the fire complex.

Daily MODIS true color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) images (click image to play animation)

A night-time AWIPS comparison of Suomi NPP VIIRS 3.74 µm shortwave IR and 0.7 µm Day/Night Band (DNB) images (below) revealed the ring of “hot spots” (red to yellow to black pixels on the shortwave IR image) and the glow of the active fires (bright white on the DNB image) around the periphery of the large fire complex. The lights of the surrounding cities and towns could also be seen on the DNB image.

Suomi NPP VIIRS 3.74 µm shortwave IR and 0.7 µm Day/Night Band images

===== 01 June Update =====

A relatively thin veil of smoke on 01 June 2012 (as seen on the 250-meter resolution MODIS true-color image) allowed the size of the Whitewater-Baldy fire burn scar to be revealed on the corresponding MODIS false-color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) image (below).

MODIS true-color and false-color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) images

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Daily MODIS 0.65 µm visible channel images (25, 26, 27, and 28 May)

A sequence of four AWIPS images of 1-km resolution MODIS 0.65 µm visible channel data during the 25 May – 28 May 2012 period (above) showed the various stages of development of Subtropical/Tropical Storm Beryl as it slowly intensified over the far western Atlantic Ocean and eventually made landfall across northeastern Florida. Beryl was the first Tropical Storm to make landfall in the US during the month of May since Tropical Storm Arlene back in 1959.

As Beryl made the transition from Subtropical Storm to Tropical Storm on 27 May, McIDAS images of 1-km resolution GOES-13 0.63 µm visible channel data (below; click image to play animation) showed convective bands becoming more organized and wrapping around the center of the system.

GOES-13 0.63 µm visible channel images (click image to play animation)

A comparison of AWIPS images of 1-km resolution Suomi NPP VIIRS 0.64 µm visible channel and 11.45 µm IR channel data (below) showed Beryl a few hours before it was classified a Tropical Storm on 27 May.

Suomi NPP VIIRS 0.64 µm visible + 11.45 µm IR channel images

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