VISIT: Meteorological Interpretation Blog

The Pacific Rim, has been quite volatile throughout the years, ranging from volcanic eruptions to earthquakes to tsunami’s, that are produced along the Rim or nearby. Yesterday, 22 January 2018, around noon local time, the Mayon Volcano in the Philippines erupted where fragments of lava, ash and steam ejected into the sky. The volcano is Continue Reading

To kick of the new year, 2018, we start off with a Nor’Easter that has developed over the East Coast and has brought freezing rain, sleet, snow, and high winds to the coastal areas, ranging from northeast Florida, the Carolinas to the New England areas. This particular storm experienced rapid cyclogenesis: a significant decrease in Continue Reading

GOES-16 imagery captured the spectacular explosive cyclogenesis event on the eastern seaboard on 4 January.  First, we’ll look at the 3 GOES-16 water vapor channels along with the air mass RGB product: http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/templates/loop_directory.asp?data_folder=training/visit/loops/4jan18/4panel_wv&loop_speed_ms=60 During this loop we see an instant occlusion type of cyclogenesis.  We also see the development of a sting jet, annotated on Continue Reading

When analyzing satellite imagery during lake-effect snow events, one is interested in looking at the low-level clouds associated with the snowbands.  However, sometimes high clouds obscure the low-level clouds making analysis from a satellite imagery perspective more challenging.  An example of high cloud obscuration can be seen in this GOES-16 loop from 2 January 2018: Continue Reading