VISIT: Meteorological Interpretation Blog

As of early November 2023, the TOWR-S RPM v24 has been released for National Weather Service (NWS) users to update their local AWIPS terminals with the latest satellite data capabilities. Within the RPM v24 release, more NWS CONUS users will be able to access the Snowfall Rate (SFR) and the merged SFR (satellite plus radar) Continue Reading

By Dan Bikos and Sheldon Kusselson Hurricane Fiona underwent a transition from a tropical cyclone to an extra-tropical cyclone on 23-24 September 2022.  The resulting extra-tropical cyclone was very intense and led to significant storm surge, wind damage and heavy rain in southeast Canada centered on Nova Scotia. The Advected Layer Precipitable Water loop does an Continue Reading

By Sheldon Kusselson ftp://ftp.cira.colostate.edu/ftp/Forsythe/LPW/Anim_GIF/2020Jun1803Advect_LPW_ALT_anim.gif

By Ed Szoke and Jorel Torres On 12 Feb 2020 a strong cold front pushed southward across the Northern Plains and Midwest bringing dramatically colder temperatures and howling northerly winds, creating widespread blowing snow and blizzard conditions during the daytime hours of 12 Feb.  While dramatic, such conditions are not unusual for the Northern Plains, Continue Reading

By Dan Bikos and Bill Line On 8 January 2020 numerous snow squalls moved across Pennsylvania leading to the issuance of multiple snow squall warnings by the NWS.  One of the challenges with this event is that it spanned the time period around sunrise.  Obviously radar and IR satellite imagery is not affected by this, Continue Reading

GOES-16 imagery depicts lake-effect snowbands over the western Great Lakes on 7 November 2019: http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/templates/loop_directory.asp?data_folder=training/visit/loops/7nov19/4panel&loop_speed_ms=60 Upper left: 0.64 micron visible band Upper right: 10.3 micron IR band with default color table (IR_Color_Clouds_Winter) Lower left: 10.3 micron IR band with GOES Snow Squall color table Lower right: Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB The 0.64 micron visible band Continue Reading

By Sheldon Kusselson ALPW loop of 2019 event: ALPW loop of 2017 event:

A strong extratropical cyclone moved through the Rocky Mountains and western high plains over the course of 10 April 2019. The low-pressure system produced heavy precipitation in the forms of rain and snow, along with blustery winds. The system produced heavy snow over a large areal extent spanning from Colorado, Wyoming, portions of Nebraska and Continue Reading

Forecasting snowfall and snowfall rates can be quite challenging, especially in radar-limited and or radar-deprived regions. A polar-orbiting satellite ‘Snowfall Rate’ product can be used together with radar observations to help anticipate snowfall rates, identify snowfall areal extent and snowfall maximas. To highlight the product’s capabilities, refer to the following snowfall case event over Northern Continue Reading

A cold arctic air mass moved into the Upper Midwest the past two days (29-30 September 2019), providing extreme cold temperatures for several states, including North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois. Along with high winds, the calculated, respective, wind chills are even lower. Satellite imagery, comprised of polar-orbiting and geostationary data, along Continue Reading