Memphis: April 2nd, 2006 thunderstorms

From GeoClasses

Sunlight illuminating the southern edge of the cloud bank moving with the front.

The thunderstorms of April 2nd were associated with a cold frontal system traveling across the Mid-south from the North-west.

View from the ground

Clouds at the front

A large bank of cumulonimbus clouds populated the sky.

The following picture are images of the clouds at the southern edge of the front as it passed over Memphis. These pictures were take from the University of Memphis campus.

Clouds at the front.

Grape clouds at the front.

Closer view of grape like clouds near the edge of the front.

Thunderstorms

Cold fronts force air to rapidly move vertically this can result in extreme weather, such as thunderstorms and tornados.

Lightening strike

Fronts

This storm was the result of a spring cold front traversing the mid US from the northeast. Weather maps from April 1st, 2nd and 3rd show the progression of the front.

Weather forecasts
Fronts and atmospheric pressure.

Satellite

Satellite image from April 2nd at 6:09 pm.

These cold fronts show up very well on sattelite images because of the clouds generated. These images are pictures of infra-red radiated from the earth. Because this storm occured at sundown, visible satellite images do not show the cloud features as well as the infra-red images. The infra-red portion of the electromagnetic spectrum shows thermal energy (heat). Since clouds consist of high concentrations of water vapor, and help keep the air warm as latent heat is extracted to create raindrops, the cloudy areas show up very well in infra-red images.

Animation of satellite images for the two hours as the storm passed over Memphis

6:09 satellite image with fronts overlayed.

These images show the same view from the same satellite but different bands.

Visible light

Infra-red 2

Infra-red 4

Infra-red 6

Links

• Satellite images from NASA: GOES images

• Mid latitude cyclones: also known as the Norwegian Cyclone Model