May 14th, 2013 GOES-13 0.63 µm visible channel (top) and 3.9 µm
shortwave IR channel (bottom) images (click to play animation)
McIDAS images of GOES-13 0.63 µm visible channel and 3.9 µm
shortwave IR channel data (above; click image to play animation)
showed the large smoke plumes and fire “hot spots” (dark black
pixels on the shortwave IR imagery) associated with the Germann
Road Fire in northwestern Wisconsin and the Green Valley Fire in
Minnesota on 14 May 2013. The Germann Road Fire burned 8495
acres, making it the largest wildfire in northern Wisconsin in
33 years. In Minnesota, the Green Valley fire burned 7100 acres.
Items of interest to note on the GOES-13 imagery: (1) the
presence of a well-defined lake breeze (lighter gray color
enhancement on the IR images) which extended quite a distance
inland from the colder waters of Lake Superior (which still
exhibited Sea Surface Temperature values in the middle to upper
30s F); (2) the change in wind direction from southwesterly to
westerly/northwesterly as