![](\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2023\/05\/goeseast_abi_radc_true_color_night_20230516203617.png\")
<\/a>GOES-16 True Color RGB images [click to play MP4 animation]<\/p><\/div>Southern Wisconsin experienced the convergence of 3 cooling mechanisms during the afternoon hours of 16 May 2023<\/strong><\/a>: (1) the arrival of a dense band of smoke aloft — transported southward from wildfires in Alberta and Saskatchewan — which reduced incoming solar radiation, (2) a southward-moving cold front and (3) the inland surge of a lake breeze (or “Pneumonia Front<\/strong><\/a>“) from Lake Michigan. Signatures of all 3 features were evident in GOES-16 (GOES-East)<\/em> True Color RGB images from the CSPP GeoSphere<\/strong><\/a> site (above)<\/strong><\/em>, with the cold front and lake breeze marked by broken lines of cumulus clouds that could be seen through the thick veil of smoke. GOES-16 Day Land Cloud RGB image at 1826 UTC, with readouts of Aerosol Optical Depth, MVFR Fog Probability, Land Surface Temperature and Fire Temperature derived products for a point beneath the thick smoke layer [click to enlarge]<\/p><\/div>In a comparison of GOES-16 Day Land Cloud RGB<\/strong><\/a> images at 1826 UTC that include readouts of Aerosol Optical Depth<\/strong><\/a> (AOD), MVFR Fog Probability, Land Surface Temperature<\/strong><\/a> and Fire Temperature<\/strong><\/a> derived products for a point beneath the thick smoke layer (above)<\/strong><\/em> and just south of the thick smoke layer (below)<\/strong><\/em>, the degree to which the smoke was reducing the amount of incoming solar radiation was apparent in a reduction in Land Surface Temperature (78.26\u00baF beneath the thick smoke where the AOD was 2.08, vs. 83.98\u00baF just south of the thick smoke where the AOD was negligible). Both points — and the W-E oriented band of thickest smoke — were located south of the approaching cold front (1800 UTC surface analysis<\/strong><\/a>).<\/p>\n GOES-16 Day Land Cloud RGB image at 1826 UTC, with readouts of Aerosol Optical Depth, MVFR Fog Probability, Land Surface Temperature and Fire Temperature derived products for a point just south of the thick smoke layer [click to enlarge]<\/p><\/div>CIMSS Natural Color RGB<\/strong><\/a> images (below)<\/em><\/strong> include plots of surface and buoy reports along with frontal analyses — note the significant drop in air temperatures across southeast Wisconsin as the lake breeze moved inland (for example, from the low 80s F to the middle 50s F within a 30-45 minute period at Milwaukee<\/strong><\/a> and Racine<\/strong><\/a>; further inland, a notable temperature drop was also seen in Madison<\/strong><\/a> just after 19:30 or 7:30 PM local time). Water temperatures reported by Buoy 45007<\/strong><\/a> in southern Lake Michigan were in the 44-46\u00baF range during the day, and just after 1800 UTC the NOAA-20 VIIRS Sea Surface Temperature<\/strong><\/a> value over that buoy location was 47\u00baF.<\/p>\n CIMSS Natural Color RGB images, with plots of surface and buoy reports along with frontal analyses [click to play animated GIF | MP4<\/a>].<\/p><\/div>A plot of lidar backscatter (source<\/strong><\/a>) at Madison, Wisconsin (below)<\/strong><\/em> depicted increasing smoke within 2 layers: one at an altitude around 3 km, and another within the 5-6 km altitude range.<\/p>\n
\n<\/em><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2023\/05\/230516_1826utc_dayLandCloudRGB_landSurfaceTemperature_smoke.png\")
<\/a>![](\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2023\/05\/230516_1826utc_dayLandCloudRGB_landSurfaceTemperature_no_smoke.png\")
<\/a>![](\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2023\/05\/wi_rgb-20230516_210117.png\")
<\/a>
![](\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2023\/05\/230516_Madison_WI_lidar_backscatter.png\")
<\/a>