January 13, 2022 - Cloud Streets over the Great Lakes

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Cloud Streets
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Frigid weather and strong winds collaborated to created spectacular
cloud formations over two of the Great Lakes in early January 2022. The
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s
Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of the clouds over Lakes
Superior and Michigan on January 10. The long rows of parallel white
clouds—called “cloud streets”—are most clearly defined and dramatic
over Lake Superior (north), but some also exist over Lake Michigan.

Clouds streets form when frigid, dry air blows across a relatively
warmer body of water, such as the Great Lakes. As an air mass blows
over cold land, it becomes cold and very dry. As this cold and dry air
mass moves over the moist and warmer water of the lakes, it picks up
water vapor to form clouds. When the air rises upward in columns
(thermals), it carries heat away from the lake surface and becomes
chilled as it rises. When this now-moist and chilled air meets a warmer
air layer (a temperature inversion), the warmer layer acts like a lid
and stops any more upward motion. The inversion causes the rising
thermals to roll over on themselves, forming parallel cylinders of
rotating air. On the upward side of the cylinders (rising air), water
vapor condenses to form clouds. Along the downward side (descending
air), skies remain clear.

On January 9-10, a mass of frigid Arctic air blasted across the Great
Lakes Region, causing temperatures to drop dramatically. The high
temperature on January 10 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada registered
only -7˚F (-21˚C), while the low hit -21˚F (-29.4˚C). Thunder Bay sits
on the northwestern shore of Lake Superior. On that same day Green Bay,
on the western shore of Lake Michigan registered a warmer (but still
frigid) high of 5˚F (-15˚C).

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 1/20/2022
Resolutions: 1km (1.6 MB), 500m (4.6 MB), 250m (3.6 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-01-13

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