ANOTHER COOL THING WE USE: WATER VAPOR IMAGE

Written by: Brian Neudorff

The above image is the Water Vapor Image from around 7:30 AM EST this morning. I love looking at the Water Vapor Image we can learn so much about what is going on in the atmosphere.

Water vapor imagery is used to analyze the presence and movement of water vapor moisture in the upper and middle levels of the atmosphere. The wavelength spectrum used to detect water vapor is in the 6.7 to 7.3 micrometer wavelength range. The upper and middle levels of the atmosphere are from about 650 mb to the top of the troposphere (or 11,000 feet to roughly 36,000 feet). Above the troposphere there is very little moisture.

We use the this image to find upper level lows which you can easily see in Nebraska. See if dry air or moist air is entering an area and where it is coming from. Example for the image above there is drier air that is going to try and work in here from Pennsylvania and West Virginia later this afternoon, maybe some sun we will see.

Sticking with the dry air, we can also find the dry slot of a storm. These can kill us when predicting snow amounts. If a dry slot gets in here to quickly you can typically count our totals bye-bye.

We also just to see the overall movement of the atmosphere. It allows us to see ridges and trough. Also short waves that can spark off some showers or even aide in some lake effect development.