Month: June 2018

Pawnee Fire, CA

by Jorel Torres on June 26th, 2018

In the late afternoon on 23 June 2018, the Pawnee Fire in Northern California initiated and has now spread to 11,000+ acres. As of this morning 26 June 2018, the fire is located a few miles north of Clearlake, CA and has forced thousands of people to evacuate the area, where 20+ structures have been destroyed. Continue Reading

Fire Weather

GOES-16 Split Window Difference Precursor to Convective Initiation

by Dan Bikos on June 12th, 2018

There are two GOES-16 products related to convective activity.  One is related to convective initiation; that is, this product will identify new cumulus that will further develop into mature thunderstorms.  The second product identifies which mature thunderstorms have a high probability of producing severe weather.  However, both GOES-16 products require active cumulus development.  We seek Continue Reading

Aviation Weather Convection GOES R

Hurricane Aletta

by Jorel Torres on June 8th, 2018

Hurricane Aletta has grown tremendously over the past 24 hours, and it is now determined as a Category 4 hurricane, as of this morning, 8 June 2018. Aletta is currently located southwest of Mexico, in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Aletta is moving northwestward, and is forecasted to drop in intensity by the weekend, as the Continue Reading

Tropical Cyclones

Storm-relative animations for right-moving and left-moving storms

by Dan Bikos on June 8th, 2018

This blog entry will compare traditional satellite animations of right-moving and left-moving storms with storm-relative animations as observed by GOES-16 visible imagery in AWIPS with the Feature Following Zoom tool.  Also, comparisons will be made between different temporal resolutions, that is, AWIPS CONUS 5-minute versus mesoscale 1-minute sectors. We will start with the traditional satellite Continue Reading

AWIPS GOES R Satellites Severe Weather

Volcan de Fuego, Guatemala erupts again!

by Jorel Torres on June 4th, 2018

Yesterday, Volcan de Fuego erupted again in southern Guatemala. The pyroclastic flow of Fuego surprised many, and as of this morning 4 June 2018, at least 25 people have died, while many others are injured. Locals near Fuego, are in the process of being evacuated from the area. Fuego erupted around 18 UTC, 3 June Continue Reading

Volcano Weather

Ute Park Fire, New Mexico

by Jorel Torres on June 1st, 2018

The Ute Park Fire initiated and has erupted over the past 24 hours. As of this morning, 1 June 2018, the fire has burned over 8,000 acres and is at zero percent containment, forcing mandatory evacuations. The fire is located in Ute Park, NM and is east of Eagle Nest, NM. Several structures have already Continue Reading

Fire Weather