I hope everyone is paying attention. The wind speeds (click here) are high coming out of the north.
Surface wind data comes from the National Digital Forecast Database.
I keep a few earth satellites open when I open the computer. I just happened to have looked at this quickly. The wind this morning was very different. There is something major on the way.
April 19, 2015
2230.19z
UNISYS North and West Hemisphere Water Vapor satellite (click here for 12 hour loop - thank you)
It might be easier to see on enhanced infrared. This is the same satellite view but in Enhanced Infrared. (click here for 12 hour loop - thank you.)
Most of the time when I view this water vapor satellite it is air masses moving west to east or vortexes heading the same direction. This looks really strange UNTIL the perspective is as if I were looking straight down on a vortex forming with it's center on the Midwest.
The ICZ is populated with water vapor so there isn't much water vapor populating that vortex. It is somewhat difficult to understand because it is not obvious. I hope I am dead wrong. This is nothing like I've ever seen before.
It appears to be water vapor rushing down from the north. There is no other turbulence anywhere in North America. It is very different. The other turbulence is outside the North American continent.
Yep. It is the water vapor coming in from the north. Ah. Oh. I hear the wind picking up outside. EVERYONE HOLD ON TO THEIR HATS. Here it comes.
Heavy rain. Wind was the front and it has settled down now.
Very occasional wind gusts, other than that rain without wind at all. Peculiar. Lower North West Michigan.
There it is. The water vapor with wind.
