{"id":6160,"date":"2010-07-17T23:59:10","date_gmt":"2010-07-17T23:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/?p=6160"},"modified":"2010-07-20T03:56:21","modified_gmt":"2010-07-20T03:56:21","slug":"waterspouttornado-in-western-puerto-rico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/archives\/6160","title":{"rendered":"Was there a waterspout\/tornado in western Puerto Rico?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"GOES-13<\/a>

GOES-13 0.63 \u00c2\u00b5m visible images<\/p><\/div>\n

There were numerous media reports of a waterspout\/tornado that moved inland near Mayaguez (station identifier TJMZ)<\/em> in far western Puerto Rico around 16:45 UTC (12:45 pm local time)<\/em> on 17 July 2010<\/strong><\/a>, causing tree and structural damage along with multiple injuries. However, due to a lack of visual confirmation, the NWS is not<\/strong> classifying this as a waterspout or a tornado event. McIDAS images of 1-km resolution GOES-13 0.63 \u00c2\u00b5m visible channel data (above)<\/strong><\/em> did show a fast-moving outflow boundary \/ gust front moving from east to west across the island, causing wind gusts in excess of 50 mph at a number of locations. A strong thunderstorm then developed along this fast-moving boundary as it reached the far western end of the Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n

Surface analyses from the NWS Ocean Prediction Center (below)<\/strong><\/em> depicted a westward-moving tropical wave\u00c2\u00a0 along the InterTropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) that may have played a role in providing forcing for the convection that produced the initial\u00c2\u00a0 outflow boundary \/ gust front that raced westward across Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n

\"NWS<\/a>

NWS Ocean Prediction Center surface analysis<\/p><\/div>\n

The corresponding 4-km resolution GOES-13 10.7 \u00c2\u00b5m IR images (below)<\/strong><\/em> revealed that cloud top IR brightness temperatures were as cold as -68\u00c2\u00ba C<\/strong> (black color enhancement)<\/em> at 17:45 UTC as the thunderstorm continued to grow and intensify.<\/p>\n

\"GOES-13<\/a>

GOES-13 10.7 \u00c2\u00b5m IR images<\/p><\/div>\n

A closer look using 1-km resolution Aqua MODIS 11.0 \u00c2\u00b5m IR imagery at 17:44 UTC (below)<\/strong><\/em> showed what appeared to be a subtle “enhanced-v” storm top signature associated with this thunderstorm. The color enhancement is slightly different than that shown with the GOES-13 IR imagery, but the coldest\/warmest IR brightnes temperatures within the enhanced-v signature were -75\u00c2\u00ba C \/ -67\u00c2\u00ba C <\/strong>respectively, making for a delta-T of 8\u00c2\u00ba C. Enhanced-v storm top signatures over the continental US can exhibit delta-T values as large as 20-30\u00c2\u00ba C, but to see an enhanced-v signature (even a subtle one)<\/em> over Puerto Rico is rather unusual.<\/p>\n

\"MODIS<\/a>

MODIS 11.0 \u00c2\u00b5m IR image<\/p><\/div>\n

Related information:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Radar animation<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

YouTube damage video<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There were numerous media reports of a waterspout\/tornado that moved inland near Mayaguez (station identifier TJMZ) in far western Puerto Rico around 16:45 UTC (12:45 pm local time) on 17 July 2010, causing tree and structural damage along with multiple injuries. However, due to a lack of visual confirmation, the NWS is not classifying this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,12,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-goes-13","category-modis","category-severe-convection"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6160"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6162,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6160\/revisions\/6162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}