{"id":72345,"date":"2026-09-16T23:59:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T23:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/?p=72345"},"modified":"2026-09-25T16:50:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T16:50:23","slug":"blowing-dust-from-lake-colhue-huapi-in-the-patagonian-region-of-southern-argentina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/archives\/72345","title":{"rendered":"Blowing dust from Lake Colhu\u00e9 Huapi in the Patagonian region of southern Argentina"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video aligncenter\"><video autoplay controls loop muted src=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2026\/09\/260916_g19_tc_dust_ARG_anim.mp4\" playsinline><\/video><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>10-minute GOES-19 daytime True Color RGB + nighttime Dust RGB images, from 2000 UTC on 16 September to 0500 UTC on 17 September<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">10-minute Full Disk scan GOES-19 <em>(GOES-East)<\/em> daytime True Color RGB + nighttime <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Dust_RGB_Quick_Guide-1-1.pdf\">Dust RGB<\/a><\/strong> images created using <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ssec.wisc.edu\/software\/geo2grid\/\">Geo2Grid<\/a><\/strong> <strong><em>(above)<\/em><\/strong> showed a plume of blowing dust originating from the dry <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lake_Colhu\u00e9_Huapi\">Lake Colhu\u00e9 Huapi<\/a><\/strong> in southern Argentina on 16 September 2026. The airborne dust appeared as shades of magenta to violet in the nighttime Dust RGB images. This blowing dust was lofted by strong westerly winds in the wake of a cold frontal passage (<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2026\/09\/260916_South_America_surface_anim.gif\">surface analyses<\/a><\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the same time period, GOES-19 daytime True Color RGB + <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/QuickGuide_GOESR_NtMicroRGB_Final_20191206_acc.pdf\">Nighttime Microphysics RGB<\/a><\/strong> images <strong><em>(below)<\/em><\/strong> highlighted a curious difference in the nighttime appearance of the blowing dust plume &#8212; with parts of the plume exhibiting brighter shades of white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video aligncenter\"><video autoplay controls loop muted src=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2026\/09\/260916_g19_tc_ntmicro_ARG_anim.mp4\" playsinline><\/video><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>10-minute GOES-19 daytime True Color RGB + Nighttime Microphysics RGB images, from 2000 UTC on 16 September to 0500 UTC on 17 September<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The differences in appearance of both a narrow dust plume originating from the far northern tip of the dry lake bed and part of the leading (eastern) edge of the plume were highlighted in a comparison of Dust RGB and Nighttime Microphysics RGB images at 2320 UTC <em><strong>(below)<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video autoplay controls loop muted src=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2026\/09\/260916_2320utc_g19_dust_ntmicro_ARG_anim.mp4\" playsinline><\/video><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>GOES-19 Dust RGB and Nighttime Microphysics RGB images at 2320 UTC on 16 September<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2-3 hours prior to the start time of the GOES-19 RGB image animations shown above, the plume of blowing dust was reducing the surface visibility to ~6 miles at Comodoro Rivadavia (METAR identifier SAVC) at 1700-1800 UTC <strong><em>(below)<\/em><\/strong>. Lake Colhu\u00e9 Huapi lies within the lower-elevation (darker shades of green) area 50-60 miles west-northwest of SAVC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video aligncenter\"><video autoplay controls loop muted src=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2026\/09\/260916_topo_savc_metar_anim.mp4\" playsinline><\/video><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Topography image with cursor samples of METAR surface reports at Comodoro Rivadavia (SAVC) at 1700 UTC and 1800 UTC on 16 September<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A plot of surface report data from SAVC <strong><em>(below)<\/em><\/strong> indicated that westerly winds gusted as high as 43 knots at 2000 UTC on 16 September (the start time of the GOES-19 RGB image animations).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2026\/09\/260916_SAVC_SFCMG.GIF\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2026\/09\/260916_SAVC_SFCMG.GIF\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Plot of surface report data at Comodoro Rivadavia (SAVC),  from 1400 UTC on 16 September to 0200 UTC on 17 September [click  to enlarge]<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>10-minute Full Disk scan GOES-19 (GOES-East) daytime True Color RGB + nighttime Dust RGB images created using Geo2Grid (above) showed a plume of blowing dust originating from the dry Lake Colhu\u00e9 Huapi in southern Argentina on 16 September 2026. The airborne dust appeared as shades of magenta to violet in the nighttime Dust RGB images. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":72348,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,132,159,45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air-quality","category-geo2grid","category-goes-19","category-redgreenblue-rgb-images"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72345","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=72345"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72363,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72345\/revisions\/72363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}