CIMSS Satellite Blog

GOES-16 Air Mass RGB images, 28-30 January [click to play MP4 animation]

A highly-amplified upper air and jet stream pattern allowed a lobe of the polar vortex to migrate southward across southern Canada and the north-central US — leading to an outbreak of arctic air througout the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes during the 29 January – 30 January 2019 period. The path and expansion of the cold arctic air was apparent in GOES-16 (GOES-East) Air Mass RGB images from the AOS site (above) — which first became evident over the Canadian arctic beginning on 28 January. The coldest air exhibited pale shades of yellow to beige in the Air Mass RGB images.

“It Came from Nunavut”
It sounds like the title of a good movie to describe this cold weather. Have you been wondering where this system came from? The upper-level low pressure system dived down from northwest Nunavut, in far northern Canada, to Minnesota. pic.twitter.com/GZSMCcO1eR

— NWS Duluth (@NWSduluth) January 30, 2019

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (below) also showed the southward expansion of arctic air into the north-central US — surface infrared brightness temperatures of -30 to -40ºC (darker blue to green enhancement) covered a large area. Such cold infrared brightness temperatures are normally associated with clouds in the middle to upper troposphere. Surface air temperatures of -20 to -40ºF were widespread, along with wind chill values of -40 to -70ºF, leading to numerous school and business closures. Two of the coldest official temperatures in the US on the morning of 30 January were -48ºF at Norris Camp, Minnesota and -44ºF at Bottineau, North Dakota (the high temperature in Bottineau on the previous day, 29 January, was only -26ºF); however, there were a few North Dakota Department of Transportation roadside sensors that reported low temperatures of -49ºF.

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images, 28-30 January [click to play MP4 animation]

More than 130 hourly observation stations across the Upper Midwest recorded a wind chill of -50°F or colder overnight into this morning. Here are some select station minimums from across the region. pic.twitter.com/A7FXAKdP8y

— MRCC (@MidwestClimate) January 30, 2019

GOES-16 True Color RGB images (below) revealed a variety of multiple-band and single-band lake effect snow features as the arctic air moved across the Great Lakes. In addition, elongated and long-lived cloud bands created snow squall conditions across parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania.

GOES-16 True Color images [click to play MP4 animation]

VIIRS True Color RGB and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images from NOAA-20 (at 1802 UTC) and Suomi NPP (at 1852 UTC) viewed using RealEarth (below) provided a closer look at the cloud bands across Ohio and Pennsylvania.

VIIRS True Color RGB and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images from NOAA-20 (at 1802 UTC) and Suomi NPP (at 1852 UTC) [click to enlarge]

A toggle between Terra MODIS True Color RGB images (below) showed growth of the nearshore ice in Lake Michigan around the Chicago area.

Terra MODIS True Color RGB images on 29 and 30 January [click to enlarge]

from CIMSS Satellite Blog http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blog/archives/31518