{"id":31031,"date":"2018-12-10T23:59:00","date_gmt":"2018-12-10T23:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/?p=31031"},"modified":"2018-12-14T16:10:30","modified_gmt":"2018-12-14T16:10:30","slug":"severe-thunderstorms-in-argentina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/archives\/31031","title":{"rendered":"Severe thunderstorms in Argentina"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GOES-16<\/a>

GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 \u00b5m, top)<\/em> and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 \u00b5m, bottom)<\/em> images [click to play MP4 animation]<\/p><\/div>A comparison of\u00a0GOES-16 (GOES-East)<\/em> “Red” Visible (0.64 \u00b5m<\/strong><\/a>) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 \u00b5m<\/strong><\/a>) images (above)<\/strong><\/em> showed the development of thunderstorms well ahead of a cold front (surface analyses<\/strong><\/a>) that was moving northward across central Argentina on 10 December 2018. A Mesoscale Domain Sector<\/strong><\/a> had been positioned over that region in support of the RELAMPAGO-CACTI<\/strong><\/a> field experiment IOP15<\/strong><\/a>, providing imagery at 1-minute intervals. The northernmost storm (of a cluster of 3) featured a very pronounced overshooting top that was seen for several hours, briefly exhibiting infrared brightness temperatures as cold as -80\u00baC (violet enhancement)<\/em> at 2133 UTC<\/strong><\/a> and 2134 UTC<\/strong><\/a>. Also noteworthy was the long-lived “warm trench” (arc of yellow enhancement)<\/em> immediately downwind of the persistent cold overshooting top.<\/p>\n

Plots of GOES-16 GLM<\/strong><\/a> Groups on the Visible and Infrared images (below)<\/strong><\/em> showed a good deal of lightning activity with this convection — especially in the leading anvil region east of the storm core. However, it is interesting to point out that there was a general lack of satellite-detected lightning directly over the large and persistent overshooting top. The GLM Groups were plotted with the default parallax<\/a><\/strong> correction removed, so the optical emissions of the lightning aligned with cloud-top features as seen on the ABI imagery.<\/p>\n

\"GOES-16<\/a>

GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 \u00b5m, top)<\/em> with GLM Groups and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 \u00b5m, bottom)<\/em> images [click to play MP4 animation]<\/p><\/div>A similar comparison of GOES-16 Visible and Near-Infrared “Snow\/Ice” (1.61 \u00b5m<\/strong><\/a>) images (below)<\/strong> <\/em>helped to highlight the formation of multiple Above-Anvil Cirrus Plume<\/strong><\/a> (AACP) features, which are signatures of thunderstorms that are producing (or could soon be producing) severe weather such as tornadoes, large hail or damaging winds. The appearance of gravity waves upshear (west) of the overshooting top was also very apparent.<\/p>\n

\"GOES-16<\/a>

GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 \u00b5m, top)<\/em> and Near-Infrared “Snow\/Ice” (1.61 \u00b5m, bottom)<\/em> images [click to play MP4 animation]<\/p><\/div>

\"Plot<\/a>

Plot of severe weather reports [click to enlarge]<\/p><\/div>There were several reports of hail with these particular thunderstorms (above)<\/strong>,<\/em> concentrated in the area between 35-36\u00ba S latitude and 62-65\u00ba W longitude. GOES-16 Visible images (below)<\/strong><\/em> showed this was the area under the path of the more northern storm with the prolonged overshooting top and the prominent AACP. This convection produced very large hail in Ingeniero Luiggi and General Villegas<\/strong><\/a> (located at 35.5\u00ba S, 64.5\u00ba W and 35\u00ba S, 63\u00ba W respectively)<\/em> — see the tweets below for photos. On a side note, the large overshooting top began to take on an unusual darker gray<\/em> appearance after 2230 UTC, possibly suggesting that boundary layer dust or particulate matter was being lofted to the cloud top by the very intense and long-lived updraft — the 18 UTC<\/strong> surface analysis<\/strong><\/a> showed that sites northwest of and south of the developing storms were reporting blowing dust.<\/p>\n

\"GOES-16<\/a>

GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 \u00b5m)<\/em> images [click to play MP4 animation]<\/p><\/div>Additional GOES-16 animations of these storms can be found on the Satellite Liaison Blog<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

A zoom-in of NOAA-20 VIIRS True Color Red-Green-Blue (RGB) imagery at 1835 UTC viewed using RealEarth<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 (below)<\/strong><\/em> showed the 3 discrete thunderstorms in the vicinity of Santa Rosa.<\/p>\n

\"NOAA-20<\/a>

NOAA-20 VIIRS True Color RGB image at 1835 UTC [click to enlarge]<\/p><\/div>A toggle between NOAA-20 VIIRS True Color RGB and Infrared Window (11.45 \u00b5m) images at 1835 UTC (below)<\/strong><\/em> revealed the cold overshooting tops associated with each of the 3 thunderstorms. Also note the swath of wet soil<\/a><\/strong> in the wake of the southern storm, which appears darker<\/em> in the True Color image and cooler (lighter shades of gray)<\/em> in the Infrared image.<\/p>\n

\"NOAA-20<\/a>

NOAA-20 VIIRS True Color RGB and Infrared Window (11.45 \u00b5m)<\/em> images at 1835 UTC [click to enlarge]<\/p><\/div>A toggle between NOAA-20 VIIRS Infrared Window (11.45 \u00b5m) images at 1835 UTC on 10 December and 0555 UTC on 11 December (below)<\/strong><\/em> showed the upscale growth into a large Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) that moved northeastward (eventually producing flooding in Rosario).<\/p>\n

\"NOAA-20<\/a>

NOAA-20 VIIRS Infrared Window (11.45 \u00b5m)<\/em> images at 1835 UTC on 10 December and 0555 UTC on 11 December [click to enlarge]<\/p><\/div>
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LA PAMPA | Granizo destructivo en Ingeniero Luiggi esta tarde. Tormentas fuertes y severas (presencia de superceldas) en la regi\u00f3n central. Zona que tendr\u00e1 nuevas tormentas, incluso m\u00e1s hacia el Este, finalizando el Lunes y en parte del Martes. Imagen (Foro Gustfront). pic.twitter.com\/KdkFNcfZSC<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Meteorolog\u00eda de la Rep\u00fablica Argentina (@MetRAnoticias) December 10, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n