Huge Plume Of Dense Smoke From Kentucky Plane Crash Tragedy Tracked On Radar

National Weather Service
doppler radar detected the
huge smoke plume from
the plane crash near
Louisville, Ky
yesterday. The smoke looks
like an elongated rainstorm
spreading north toward
southern Indiana. 

The tragic plane crash yesterday in Louisville, Kentucky was made even worse by the massive amounts of jet fuel involved.  

That burning jet fuel, and burning oil from a petroleum recycling plant that was hit by the crash, created one of the most intense smoke plumes I can remember. At least aside from big wildfires and volcanoes. 

The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 UPS cargo plane was taking off from Louisville en route to Honolulu when it crashed into an industrial area during the late afternoon rush hour. 

At last report, nine people were reported dead and up to 16 are missing. At least 11 people are injured. There were three people aboard the plane, meaning the rest of the casualties were victims on the ground. 

The plane, and exploding jet fuel slammed into several businesses. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said one of the businesses, Kentucky Petroleum Recycling, was hit "pretty directly," as he put it. 

This implies that in addition to the 38,000 gallons of jet fuel, weighing 233,000 pounds on the ill-fated plane, a large quantity of some type of petroleum products were at the business that was hit. The plane itself was carrying as many as 20,000 packages. 

Video images also showed dozens of cars on fire after the crash. 

All this created epic amounts of thick, black smoke. The wind was blowing from the south at about 7 mph, so the huge plume billowed northward. The smoke plume passed downtown Louisville just to the east, and greyed out the sky in the city's northern and eastern suburbs and on into southern Indiana.

The smoke was so dense and so extensive that National Weather Service radar showed the plume extending more than 20 miles from northwest of Okolona, Kentucky on up to River Bluff, in southern Indiana. 

Other than in large forest fires, it's unusual for weather radar to track a plume of smoke over that distance. Most fires don't create enough smoke to create as big a return on Doppler radar. 

The smoke was so thick that a shelter in place notification was in effect for a time from the airport all the way north to the Ohio River. 

A satellite system designed to detect heat from forest fires (helping firefighters assess the intensity and direction of fires) detected the explosion and blaze from the Louisville plane crash. 

The pixels in the heat detecting satellite are large, but even if a very small portion of that area is burning, the satellite imagery can detect it and display it as a large gray square. A loop in this link shows the initial dark square south of downtown Louisville at about the time of the crash. The grey square fades as the fire begins to subside. 

As horrible as this plane crash was, it could have been worse. The crashing plane narrowly missed a convention center where people were gathering for a livestock show. The crash also just missed the crowded bar and restaurant. Staff and patrons got out safely. The crash also just missed a huge Ford assembly plant with hundreds of workers inside.

Video:

Aerial video of the crash aftermath shows the extent of fire and smoke billowing over the Louisville area. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

 

Lightning Strike Extended Over 500 Miles, There Might Be Even Bigger Ones. Also Lightning Contiinues To Kill

Schematic shows the extent of what is now regarded
as the biggest lighting flash on record, coming from
a complex of storms in the southern Plains
on October 22, 2017

We have a new world record for a strange, and rather old event. 

Back on October, 22 2017, a lighting bolt flashed over the southern Plains. That fact isn't the least bit unusual, considering how often thunderstorms happen there. 

This one, though, was recently certified as the longest lighting strike on record, It was a whopping 515 miles long, spanning from near Dallas to just east of Kansas City, Missouri.  

 It wasn't just a narrow line between the two points either. Branches of this bolt lit up the sky over much of southeast Oklahoma, northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri. 

The old record was for actually  more recent  477.2 mile long bolt across the southern Plains on April 29, 2020. 

As the Washington Post tells us:

Relatively new technology allows data from GOES 16, 17, 18 and 19 satellites hovering 22,236 miles about the ground to map the origins of each flash. These satellites can sense lightning discharges from above, even if they don't strike the ground. 

Although most of this mega-strike and all other almost-as-big strikes stay aloft, some parts of them strike the ground. The data from the satellites is then merged to ground based lighting strike data from something called the Earth Networks Total Lightning Network.  This particular record setter from October, 2017 produced 64 bolts (branches, really) that struck the ground. 

So yeah, these mega-strikes can be dangerous.

The technology to analyze these giant lightning strikes has only existed for about a decade. Given that short time frame, researchers are sure they will find even bigger bolts than the one from October 2017. 

FASCINATING LIGHTNING

Mega-flashes are fascinating, not only because they are so big. 

They also last much longer than you see in standard-issue lightning bolts you see in "normal" summertime storms. 

The record breaking mega-flash lasted seven seconds. Another mega-strike over Uruguay and northern Argentina on June 18, 2020 lasted 17.1 seconds. 

As CNN tells us, oddly, mega-bolts tend to form in the weaker, outer parts of storms systems, and not the intense core where we'd think lighting would originate.

Fewer than 1 percent of all lightning bolts can be considered mega-flashes. 

The World Meteorological Organization said this particular flash was not spotted in an original analysis of the storm, but scientist re-examined the storm and measured this 2017 mega-flash. 

The WMO in its announcement brought two other lightning records to our attention. They are both, unfortunately, horrific. As the Washington Post reports:

"The WMO also referenced two other lightning records - both for fatality counts from single strikes. In 1975, 21 people in Zimbabwe were killed by a bolt as they huddled inside a hut for safety. And in 1994, 469 people were killed in Dronka, Egypt when lightning struck a set of oil tanks, sparking a fire and causing burning oil to flood the town."

Meanwhile, in the United States, lightning continues to take a toll. So far, 13 Americans have died from lightning strikes, the same number as in all of last year.  

If there's a bright side, we're not on pace to be the worst lightning year in recent memory. Back in 2016, the nation saw 40 lightning deaths. 

 

Vermont Snow Today Showed Up On Satellite Photos

Visible satellite view of the Northeast this morning.
That fuzzy whitish patch in northern Vermont is
snow cover from last night's early season snow.

 There wasn't all that much snow in Vermont this morning, but eagle eyed visible satellite imagery caught the snow cover pretty clearly in north central Vermont. 

Click on the photo in the post here to make it bigger and easier to see. 

That fuzzy whitish patch in north central Vermont, along with another one over the Adirondacks and still another in northern New Hampshire, is snow cover this morning. 

That bright white streak of clouds through central New York, southern Vermont and central New England is the remnants of the cold front that helped create the snow.

You don't see snow on the ground near the Canadian border in Vermont because moisture streaking in from New York State last night mostly went just south of that region, so there wasn't much in any kind of precipitation,

At my house in St. Albans, Vermont, we had some brief snow flurries Sunday evening but no measurable precipitation.

Some areas along the west slopes of the Green Mountains had two or three inches of snow, but most places only managed 1.5 inches or less.

At mid and high elevations, some of the snow was still on the ground at the end of today. Web cams along Route 108 in Stowe and Route 17 in Buels Gore still showed quite a few patches of snow on the ground.

Temperatures only got into the upper 30s and 40s today. Plus, the humidity in the air was extremely low, about as low as it can possibly get in Vermont. Snow or ice in shade does not melt readily when there's so little moisture in the air, even if it's above freezing. 

That will change, as we are still expecting a warm front tomorrow night that will bring near record high temperatures, and some oddly high humidity for this time of  year Wednesday and Thursday. 

See The Cold Front Flush Out The Haze/Smoke Briefly In Vermont

Satellite view from this morning. Click on it to make
it bigger and easier to see. That band of clouds
across central Vermont, and northern New York 
and New Hampshire is a weakening cold
front that is flushing out the hazy air you
see in southern Vermont in favor of cooler,
drier, clearer air from Quebec.

 The visible satellite photo this Sunday morning tells you all you need to know about the kind of day we'll have today. Spoil: Nice.  

The photo,  (click on it to make it bigger and easier to see)   you see in this post pretty clearly shows the weak cold front as a band of clouds over central Vermont.  

The photo was taken around 8 a.m. today.  It's kind of a fascinating satellite pic from the perspective of a weather geek like me. 

That front had a bit more oomph to it when it crossed from Quebec into Vermont. A few places north of Route 2 had up to a quarter inch of rain. Not much, but more than many forecasts. Other places got just a few raindrops.

The cold front is weakening as it moves southward, and so the showers are breaking up fast, and it probably won't rain at all in central and southern Vermont. The clouds along it should break up, too. 

 Notice the milky quality to the air just south of the front. You might have also noticed is was slightly hazy Saturday afternoon. That was a bit of wildfire smoke in the atmosphere from blazes in the western United States and Canada.

The smoke is more concentrated just ahead of the front and the clouds. That's because the cold front it acting a bit like a snow plow, pushing the smoke out like that plow driver clearing the road in front of your house after a January six-incher. 

Another spoiler: Snow is not in the forecast, but you knew that. 

Also take a look at the air north of the front in the satellite photo, above Route 2 and up in Canada. That's much fresher, drier almost smoke-free air that we'll enjoy today.  Bright blue skies will spread quickly south across Vermont this morning and afternoon. 

We'll also probably have the "coldest" afternoon since July 1, with highs staying in the 70s, except low 80s in warmer valleys south. These temperatures of course, are only slightly below normal for the season. 

It makes for a total Chamber of Commerce kind of weather day in the Green Mountain State. This is the kind air that really makes the Green Mountains look, well, green. 

After an absolutely delightful sleeping night tonight, the humid, warm, wet air we've been dealing with all summer will start to flood back in. In the photo, you see the slightly hazy, humid air with clusters of showers and storms further down the East Coast. 

That's the air that's coming back this coming week, as our friendly weak Sunday cold front comes back north at us as a less friendly muggy warm front around Tuesday. 

We'll eke out a nice, dry, sunny, warm day Monday before the humidity and showers return for the rest of the week.

Enjoy it while you can.

Two Cool Satellite Photos, One Of Them For Us In Vermont

A satellite view of the Pacific Ocean Friday shows
two graceful looking storms and a giant number 7
between British Columbia and Alaska's Aleutian Islands. 

 I'm always fascinated by satellite photos showing how clouds behave, and how the landscape below the clouds change with the season, or change with different weather.  

There's two cool examples here. 

LUCKY #7

The first was taken Friday over the Pacific Ocean. The two storm are interesting enough as they are. 

Both of them - one off the California coast, another larger one northwest of Hawaii, feature two graceful cold fronts hanging south and southwestward from the  main storm. 

As you can see, most of the northern Pacific Ocean is cloudy in the photo, except for the giant number 7 shaped area of clear skies. That's what everybody honed in on the most. It didn't signify any particular weather, other than a gap between storms, but it was a pretty unusual pattern nonetheless. 

The storm to the right of the seven looks vaguely like a six, so I guess the Pacific Ocean was in a 76 mood on Friday. Whatever that means.  Seventy-six more storms to hit the West Coast before spring? California certainly hopes not. 

BIRD'S EYE VIEW, END OF WINTER 

Visible satellite photo from Saturday afternoon shows
an unseasonable lack of show in the valleys of 
western Vermont, not a great snow cover elsewhere,
and if you look closely, very little ice in the lakes. 

The second photo is much closer to home. It was taken Saturday afternoon, a rare crystal clear day during such an overcast winter. 

Again click on the photo to make it bigger and easier to see. 

First, you can see the paltry snow cover for this time of year in and around Vermont. 

The Champlain Valley and the southeastern tip of Vermont are devoid of snow.   The snow does cover most of the rest of Vermont, but it looks weak, like there's plenty of bare spots in the low elevations.

Ice on Lake Champlain should be peaking by now, but it still shows dark blue in the visible satellite photo, indicating a serious lack of ice. 

You can also see the eastern end of Lake Ontario, the Finger Lakes in western New York. a fairly big chunk of Lake Winnipesaukee (SP) in New Hamphire and Sebago Lake in Maine all free of ice.

The only parts of the satellite photo that looks normal for this time of year is north of the St. Lawrence River in Canada. There, we see frozen lakes and what appears to be a pretty substantial snow cover. 

The lame snow cover in New England should retreat further this week during yet another expected warm spell. Following a brief return to winter Thursday and Friday, more premature spring weather seems due. 

Fascinating "Smoke Front" Over Vermont On Monday

A "smoke front" over New England Monday.
North of Route 4 in Vermont and New Hampshire, it
was clear and bright. South of that rough line,
it was hazy from smoke aloft. 

Just a quick post today, building on what I called the "smoke front" that I mentioned was in southern Quebec Sunday.  

It was a fascinating feature that moved south into Vermont on Monday. North of this "front" it was crystal clear. South of it, not so much. 

I personally don't like it when that smoky haze builds up in the atmosphere. I love what I call classic Blue/Green days, and I look forward to them each year.  

Which is what we had in northern Vermont Monday. The sky was a dazzling, deep, crisp blue. The green trees shimmered in the bright sunshine and light breezes.

Just a gorgeous day. The smoke was gone, at least for a little while. 

But it wasn't far away. A visible satellite photo from Monday afternoon illustrates this. Click on the satellite photo to make it bigger and easier to see.

Far northern New York, northern Vermont, northern New Hampshire and Quebec was clear and bright.  However, there was a sharp dividing line through Rutland and Windsor counties, south of which the smoke remained. 

Click on the satellite photo to make it bigger and easier to see.

That sharp line had been over southern Quebec Sunday, but moved south. 

Crisp, clean blue skies and bright sunshine north of the
"smoke front" on Monday afternoon in St. Albans, Vermont

This "smoke front" was really a cold front that sort of washed out as it hit southern Vermont. You could tell by the temperatures, too. It was only in the low 60s across northern Vermont Monday but in the low 70s south. 

The smoke, of course, is coming back, so it was a short reprieve. The skies over northern Vermont were still nice and blue this morning, but this morning's satellite views show that "smoke front" getting more diffuse and the high altitude haze heading north and east again. 

South winds ahead of a strong cold front that is due tomorrow will ensure the smoky haze will last at last until the cold front comes through. 

Lucky for us, the smoke has stayed mostly aloft all this month, so we haven't had any real health issues with this, like other parts of the nation have. 

There's still a lot of smoke drifting over vast areas of North America, and the Alberta fires are still raging. 

Smoke forecasts say it will be hazy over Vermont by noon today, and stay that way into tomorrow. That next strong cold front on Wednesday should clear us out nicely for a sunny, bright, but cool Thursday.

Those smoke forecasts do have all that atmospheric smoke over North America dissipating somewhat over the next several days, so maybe we'll have at least a temporary break from the hazy skies as we move toward the end of the month. 

Satellite View Shows Diminishing Snow Cover In Vermont

Satellite photo from Sunday shows snow remaining
in the Green Mountains and Adirondack and in
much of northeastern Vermont.  Click on the map
to make it bigger and easier to view.

 Sunday was crystal clear and beautiful in Vermont, so it was time to take a sneak peek, via satellite photo, to trace Vermont's remaining snow cover. 

To nobody's surprise, there's been a big decline since April 1, when we last took a good look at satellite photos showing, among other things, the Green Mountain State's snow cover.  

Judging from the forecast, we'll lose a lot more snow in the coming days.

In Sunday's satellite photo taken in the morning before a little additional thawing got underway, areas along and east of the Green Mountains still have snow. You can see it as sort of that off-white hue.  

Unlike on April 1, if you look closely, you can see valleys in eastern Vermont are looking brown, meaning the snow is gone. You can really see it in the Connecticut River Valley south of St. Johnsbury, and to a somewhat lesser extent the White River Valley in east central Vermont, and the Winooski River valley in Washington County. 

The splotches that have the most brilliant white hue, compared to the rest, are mid and high elevations where snow cover is still pretty deep. As of Sunday morning, the high elevation town of Sutton in Caledonia County still had a foot of snow on the ground. Corinth, in Orange County, still had 14 inches. 

Mount Mansfield still had 73 inches of snow at the stake near the summit, just six inches less than it had on April 1.  I'm pretty sure you'll see decent declines in snow depth up there later in the week. 

That 73 inch snow depth up there is a little more than average for the date. Since mid-March, the Mount Mansfield snow depth has been somewhat above average, after spending the entire winter below normal. 

You can also see that north of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, there is still a TON of snow on the ground.

On the very bright side, it seeming like we're escaping any substantial spring snow melt floods in Vermont. 

Locally heavy rains in northern Vermont on April 5, caused some minor flooding, but really, it was no big deal. 

This week, very little rain will accompany the melting snow.  Late in the week, high temperatures in higher elevations could reach well into the 50s and 60s, which would accelerate the runoff from the mountains. 

That'll probably mean river levels will remain on the high side, but nothing to really worry about.

As of Sunday, the Lake Champlain level was at 98.15 feet, a little less than two feet shy of flood stage. That level is also very close to normal for this time of year. 

The lake might continue to rise, but severe flooding on the lake is off the table, unless we somehow get record heavy rains in later in April and May, which seems pretty unlikely. 

New NASA Satellite To Give A Better Handle On Severe Storms, Wildfires

A rocket launches a new state of the art
weather satellite into space this past
Tuesday. Photo by Kim Shiflett/NASA

You're probably familiar with those satellite maps that show us the cloud patterns over the United States and the rest of the world.  

Those pictures are taken by what are known as "geostationary" satellites, whose orbit keeps them pretty much over the exact same spot above the Earth all the time. 

With increasing risks of severe storms and wildfires, NASA has launched a new satellite that will provide much better information on these disasters, as The Hill reports. 

The satellite, which will be named GOES-18, was successfully launched into space on Tuesday.

It will keep an eye on the western U.S. and Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Central America and a big chunk of the Pacific Ocean.

Once the satellite settled in,  it will park itself 22,300 miles above Earth, and it will have a whiz-bang arsenal of instruments to keep an eye on would-be dangers.

One piece is a lightning mapper, which is the first time one of these has been placed on a geostationary satellite. That will help meteorologists examine patterns in thunderstorms, especially when they're just starting to develop. 

This, in turn would help scientists determine if these nascent storms will unleash dangerous wind, hail or tornadoes, or just become garden variety thunderstorms. 

The satellite will also zero in on wildfires, especially in the western United States. The satellite will be able to closely monitor the intensity and path of these fires. The satellite will also be able to pick out weather factors that would change the trajectory of these fires.

The satellite will even be able to see space weather hazards heading our way. Solar flares can disrupt utilities on Earth, and early warnings can help operators buttress electrical and other systems against these disruptions.

This new satellite will replace an existing satellite called GOES-17 that watches western North America. The old satellite will be retained as a backup in case the new one has a problem or needs maintenance. 

 

 

 

Satellite Images Show How Fast Snow Melted Last Week

First satellite photo Sunday, March 7

There's been an unusual number of sunny days over New England this March, which means visible satellite images have been pretty stunning as they show how the early spring landscape has changed in and around Vermont. 

I've had fun in the past week watching the snow melt from way on high, thanks to the National Weather Service in South Burlington, Vermont. 

Especially last week, when a warm spell, peaking with record high temperatures last Thursday, really did a number on the snow cover.  We'll walk you through the images, below, because they're pretty neat to follow.

In each photo, click on them to embiggen them and make them easier to see. (Fun side note: "Embiggen" is an official word, says Merriam-Webster).

The first shot, at the top of this post, was taken  Sunday, March 7.  All these satellite are real color photos, not enhanced. It was still cold that day, and all of Vermont had a snow cover. You can see bare ground encroaching on the southwestern tip of Vermont from near Albany, but everything was pretty still white. 

Snow extended into most of central and western Massachusetts and western Connecticut

A large part of Lake Champlain (dark blue) still had open water, but that white you see in the northern reaches of the lake is snow-covered ice. The Champlain Valley looks whiter because there's less forest and more open, snow covered fields.

The large darkish circle in northern New York is the Adirondack Park. The white flecks within that circle are snow and ice covered lakes and ponds. 

Next image is next It was taken on Tuesday, March 9. 

As you can see in the satellite photo, northern Vermont is largely obscured by what are known as gravity wave clouds. You know how in a river, when flowing water goes up and over a rock, you see a series of "echo" waves in the water downstream from the rock. 

Same thing is happening here. There's probably an area of rising air in the St. Lawrence Valley of southern Quebec that's forcing the fast moving northwest wind up and over that patch of rising air. The northern Adirondacks and northern Green Mountains are also making air go up and over them, contributing to these waves.

It doesn't really matter that we can't see most of northern Vermont. Not much has changed on the ground between Sunday and Tuesday.

In southern Vermont, you can now see bare ground sneaking into far southwestern Vermont - it got up to 48 degrees in Bennington that day. Snow is disappearing fast from much of Massachusetts and Connecticut. 

The next satellite photo was taken Friday, March 12

The day before had brought those record high temperatures and when this photo was taken early Friday afternoon, it was still sunny and warm just ahead of a cold front coming down from Quebec.

The changes - as you can see - are dramatic from just two days earlier. The entire Champlain Valley has gone from white to brown as the snow there pretty much all melted. The dark blue of Lake Champlain has expanded as ice broke up.

If you look at the far northern end of the lake, you can see a light blue where St. Albans Bay is. The ice has weakened, the snow has melted off it, there's standing water on top of it, so you get the light blue. 

The higher elevations across the region are still snow covered.

If you look carefully in southwestern Vermont between Rutland and Bennington, you can see a very narrow string of brown between the white snow of the hills. That narrow brown string is the valley floor along Route 7 between the Taconic Mountains to the west and the southern Greens.

The brown gap of snow-free ground widens around Rutland, and you can see the valley that holds Route 4 heading west to Fair Haven is brown.  You see a circle of snow just north of Route 4 before you get to the brown Champlain Valley.

That whitish circle is the northern extent of the Taconic Range, specifically Hanley Mountain and the wonderfully named Grandpa's Knob near West Rutland. 

The National Weather Service office in South Burlington's website has satellite views of the Northeast in all different modes of seeing satellite images. On the left side of the National Weather Service satellite page is the GeoColor, which during the day gives you the real-color images you see in this post.  This, to me, is probably the most fun part of the NWS/South Burlington website. 

On that page, you can zoom in on different areas, and really look at some cool cloud patterns when they develop.  

If, for example, there's an odd cloud not too far away from your location - say an isolated thunderstorm or those wave clouds I mentioned above - you can then go outside and compare the satellite view versus the real view. 

Though there is a slight delay. The cloud you see on satellite might have moved on by the time you get outside and look. It's still worth a shot, though. The image updates once every five minutes, so that's a pretty good turnaround time. I've had great luck with checking the satellite than going immediately outdoors to see what it looks like from the ground. 

On clear days, you can also watch the change of seasons.  Where the snow is melted, it's brown now, but you will see it go over to green as the trees leaf out. Orange hues will take over in the autumn during peak foliage.

Sometimes it all almost makes you want to hitch a ride on the satellite taking the photos.