An upper level storm system brought winter weather and severe weather to a large portion of the US on 18-19 Jan 2019. GOES-16 water vapor and IR imagery show the extent and evolution of the mid latitude cyclone on the 19th (Fig 1).

Snow left by the system the previous day and evening was obvious in Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB imagery (green) as low clouds (aqua/light blue) dissipated (Fig 2). Rapid melting of the snow was apparent during the day, especially in Texas.

Further east, thunderstorms along and near the cold front produced damaging winds and a few tornados. GOES-16 1-min imagery was available over the region to support forecast operations. The GOES-16 GLM revealed an overall lack of lightning activity along the cold front. However, it did highlight the location of (particularly strong) updraft cores and strengthening/weakening updraft trends (Fig 3).

Finally, an undular bore was captured in GOES-16 imagery traveling south along the east coast of Mexico (Fig 4).

Bill Line, NWS