VISIT: Meteorological Interpretation Blog

During mid-April 2024, unprecedented flooding occurred in the Middle East, specifically in the countries of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman. Over the course of a few days, a series of storms produced significant precipitation totals that pummeled the region, which led to extensive flooding that shut down schools, grounded or diverted flights, and Continue Reading

On 4 July 2020 a thunderstorm developed in southern Saskatchewan that led to numerous tornadoes (video, picture, pictures). Let’s analyze various satellite derived moisture products in the time period leading up to the tornadic storm.  The following loop 4-panel loop: http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/templates/loop_directory.asp?data_folder=training/visit/loops/4july20/4panel_moisture&loop_speed_ms=80 Upper-left: GOES-16 visible (0.64 micron) imagery. Upper-right: Advected Layer Precipitable Water (ALPW) product in Continue Reading

During the overnight hours of March 18-19, 2020, there were numerous reports of severe weather (including tornadoes) in north Texas: https://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/200318_rpts.html This blog entry will focus on the storm repsonsible for the tornado reports between 0615 – 0650 UTC near Abilene, TX. The storm of interest can be viewed in this 4-panel display zoomed in Continue Reading

On 16 December 2019, SPC issued an enhanced risk of severe thunderstorms for portions of Louisiana and Mississippi: One of the favorable ingredients for this severe weather setup was the presence of an Elevated Mixed Layer (EML) which is depicted in the 12Z Jackson, MS sounding: The EML is bounded between the capping inversion around Continue Reading

During the overnight hours of 21 October 2019, we analyze multiple applications of GOES imagery at night. First, we look over the northeast where fog developed.  Here is the GOES-16 nighttime microphysics product: http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/templates/loop_directory.asp?data_folder=training/visit/loops/21Oct19/fog&loop_speed_ms=60 We observe large areas of fog (dull aqua) or low clouds (aqua) in Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.  Continue Reading

By Dan Bikos and Lewis Grasso During the afternoon of 30 April 2019, a dryline mixed eastward from New Mexico into the Texas panhandle, as seen in this GOES-16 visible loop with METARs overlaid: http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/templates/loop_directory.asp?data_folder=training/visit/loops/30apr19/vis_metars&loop_speed_ms=60 Thunderstorms initiate along various segments of the dryline during the animation. The moisture gradient is substantial across the dryline so Continue Reading

By Louie Grasso and Dan Bikos On the day of 17 April 2019 observations indicated a significant upper-level trough over the southwest portions of the US.  As is typical with this type of synoptic setup, southwesterly flow ahead of the trough existed over northern Mexico extending northeastward into Texas.  In addition, this synoptic setup is Continue Reading

By Louie Grasso, Dan Bikos, Jorel Torres and Ed Szoke During the summer of 2018 over the High Plains, several significant severe storms occurred.  Several hailstorms moved southward over the Central High Plains and produced noticeable hail swaths and damage scars on the ground that were captured by GOES-16 ABI.  The purpose of this blog Continue Reading

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