Sat Views of OK Outbreak including Super Rapid Scan for Vortex 2
Posted by JAC on 5/11/2010, 7:10 am



A major outbreak of tornadoes occurred across parts of Oklahoma and Kansas on 10 May 2010 (SPC storm reports).

An animation of the GOES-13 0.63 m visible channel images (above) shows the development of a number of very large thunderstorms across the southern Plains region
- also note the large hazy plume of blowing dust that was moving northeastward from the Texas panhandle,
as well as a smaller area of blowing dust the moved southward out of southwestern Kansas later in the day.

The corresponding set of GOES-13 10.7 m IR images (below) revealed several "enhanced-v" storm top signatures and a number of pronounced cold overshooting tops
- cloud top IR brightness temperatures became progressively colder into the late afternoon and early evening hours,
with a number of cloud top in the -70 C to -80 C range (black to white enhancement).







1-km resolution MODIS water vapor image (below) showed a very complex array of middle tropospheric wave structures,
as very strong winds were interacting with the terrain of the region.

Initially, we would like to focus our attention on the severe storm that can be seen developing over northern Oklahoma,
near the triple point intersection of the cold front, the dry line, and the warm front.







The GOES-13 satellite was placed into Super Rapid Scan Operations (SRSO) to support the VORTEX2 field experiment -
so satellite imagery was available at 1-minute intervals for short periods during the afternoon and early evening hours.

GOES-13 SRSO visible images (below; also available as a QuickTime animation)
showed some very interesting storm top evolution associated with a few of the earlier thunderstorms that developed across the Oklahoma/Kansas border region.

Of particular interest was the appearance of "inflow feeder clouds" that were seen to develop and become ingested into the southwest quadrant of one of the stronger storms during the 20:15 - 20:45 time period -
and not long after these inflow feeder clouds were seen on the visible satellite imagery,
this storm intensified and produced hail of 4.25 inches in diameter and a large tornado.





A comparison of the GOES-11, GOES-15, and GOES-13 visible images that were available during the 20:30 - 20:45 UTC period when these inflow feeder clouds were being ingested into the storm show the value of more frequent imaging,
which allows the evolution of such features to be more clearly visualized and understood (below).

The images are shown in the native projections of each GOES satellite.







A 1-km resolution MODIS 11.0 m IR image at 19:49 UTC (below) revealed to presence of a well-defined cold/warm cloud top temperature couplet associated with an "enhanced-v" signature
- both can be indicators of the potential of severe weather.

In fact, this storm did later produce hail of 4.25 inches in diameter at around 20:10 UTC, and then a strong tornado around 20:33 UTC.

A 20-30 minute lead time is typical for such satellite storm top signatures.

Note that neither the cold/warm couplet nor the enhanced-v signature was apparent on the 4-km resolution GOES-13 10.7 m IR imagery at that time.







Farther to the south, another large area of severe convection developed a couple of hours later over southwestern Oklahoma,
which went on to produce large hail and tornadoes in the Oklahoma City and Norman areas.

AWIPS images of the CIMSS experimental "Convective Initiation", "Cloud Top Cooling Rate", and "Overshooting Top" products are shown below;
these products appeared to have some skill in providing some lead time to the development of this severe convection that later affected Oklahoma City and Norman.

These CIMSS products are being provided to the Storm Prediction Center as part of the Hazardous Weather Testbed evaluation (a component of the GOES-R Proving Ground activities).


















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Sat Views of OK Outbreak including Super Rapid Scan for Vortex 2 - JAC, 5/11/2010, 7:10 am
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