Posted by bobbi on 5/28/2009, 5:01 pm, in reply to "Convective Flares"

thank you for that walk through a great lesson on how to understand all of this in the slice and dice world of weather --Previous Message-- : : : : : The first tropical depression of the 2009 : season formed off the US East Coast on 28 : May 2009. An AWIPS animation of GOES-12 10.7 : µm “IR window” images (above) revealed : several bursts of convection as the canopy : of cold cloud tops slowly expanded. : : One of the convective bursts occurred around : 15:00 UTC , and a comparison of the 1-km : resolution MODIS 11.0 µm IR window and the : 4-km resolution GOES-12 10.7 µm IR window : images around that time (below) depicted : cloud top brightness temperatures several : degrees colder on the MODIS image (-72º C, : vs -68º C on the GOES-12 IR image). : : : : : Products from the CIMSS Tropical Cyclones : site (below) showed that the coldest SSM/I : microwave brightness temperatures (red : colors) were found in the southeastern : quadrant of the cold IR cloud shield. In : addition, it could be seen that the tropical : depression was situated over the warmer : waters of the Gulf Stream (SST values : greater than 24º C, green colors), which was : likely aiding in the intensification : process. The deep layer wind shear was also : light, which was another factor that favored : further intensification. : : : : : The Blended Total Precipitable Water product : (below) showed that TPW values were as high : as 50-57 mm (2.0 to 2.2 inches, red colors) : in the vicinity of the tropical depression. : : :