MSG IR10.8 imagery with surface pressure and wind: time sequence

9th June 2004: 00UTC
This image reveals a long shaped area of low surface pressure extending from East Scotland to the North Sea in connection to a warm front. A particular centre of deep pressure can be found at the southwest edge of the super cell. We see a corresponding circulation between 20 and 30 knots.

9th June 2004: 01UTC
The super cell moved to the east situated at the northern edge of the area with relatively low surface pressure and within an area of wind speed between 20 and 30 knots.

9th June 2004: 02UTC
We recognise a particular surface low southwest of the super cell’s centre (marked by the blue areas, equivalent to cloud top temperatures below -65°C).

9th June 2004: 03UTC
The patterns of surface pressure exhibt now the dipole structure of high surface pressure at the rear and lower pressure at the frontal site of the super cell. It is integrated in the surface warm front as to be seen from the wind discontinuity southwest of the super cell.

9th June 2004: 04UTC
Due to the denser network we recognise now the typical dipole structure of surface pressure with relatively low surface pressure in the frontal site and high pressure at the rear of the convective system.

9th June 2004: 05UTC
The highest tops of the super cell are now over the federal state „Schleswig-Holstein“. We recognise the development of a particular surface low west of Hamburg with a special circulation.

9th June 2004: 06UTC
This image reveals near Hamburg an instructive example of the development of a mesoscale high pressure system and a confluence just after passing of the super cell. South of the blue area with low cloud top temperatures a new cell (1 blue pixel) started to develope. That was the onset of the so-called cell splitting.

9th June 2004: 07UTC
We recognise several areas of cloud top temperatures below -65°C. The biggest one is at the southwest of the high extending cloud complex where the new cell developed whereas the other blue pixels are rests of the decaying left part of the cloud complex.

9th June 2004: 08UTC
The image of 08 UTC exhibits a V-formed structure in blue directed against the upper streaming (coming from western directions). This so-called V-notch will be considered more in detail in a special chapter. We see that the centre of the surface low and the cyclonic rotation is near-by the blue area of the satellite image indicating the position of the mesocyclone.

9th June 2004: 09UTC
At 09 UTC the whole system weakend. The cloud top temperatures are higher than -65°C (i.e., below the tropopause) and the surface pressure increased.