CIMSS Satellite Blog

GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images, with hourly plots of surface reports [click to play animation]

GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images (above) revealed a curious pattern of waves moving east-northeastward across a patch of mid-level clouds over central Lake Michigan during the morning hours on 23 June 2018.

In an effort to determine the vertical extent of these waves, a look at Low-level Water Vapor (7.3 µm), Mid-level Water Vapor (6.9 µm) and Upper-level Water Vapor (6.2 µm) images (below) showed a signature of waves propagating northeastward across the region for several hours. The waves were most obvious in the 7.3 µm and 6.9 µm imagery, though a subtle signature could also be seen at higher altitudes in the 6.2 µm images. There were scattered pilot reports of light to moderate turbulence across the region as the waves were moving through, including one report of continuous Clear Air Turbulence at 36,000 feet over eastern Wisconsin.

GOES-16 Low-level (7.3 µm) images, with hourly pilot reports of turbulence [click to play animation]

GOES-16 Mid-level (6.9 µm) images, with hourly pilot reports of turbulence [click to play animation]

GOES-16 Upper-level (6.2 µm) images, with hourly pilot reports of turbulence [click to play animation]

1-km resolution Aqua MODIS Water Vapor (6.7 µm) imagery at 0801 UTC (below) showed a long narrow wave packet oriented northwest to southeast from far western Wisconsin to central Illinois — and these waves were also apparent along the tops of mid-level clouds along the Iowa/Illinois border. All things considered, the lack of a clear forcing mechanism for these waves qualifies this case to be placed into the “What the heck is this” blog category until a coherent explanation can be put forward…

Aqua MODIS Water Vapor (6.7 µm) and Infrared Window (11.0 µm) images, with plots of pilot reports [click to enlarge]

from CIMSS Satellite Blog http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blog/archives/28639