Click the image for an animated loop of GOES East visible imagery between 16z and 1745z along with the Convective Initiation product.

The color scale on the convective initiation product has been adjusted to three colors to simplify identification of the various probabilities. Blue is a 0-30% probability, Yellow is a 31-70% Probability and Red is 70% to 100%. I feel this helps to show increasing probabilities better than the standard multi-color scale. In the looping image notice the outlined area over eastern W. Virginia to the west of the Shenandoah Valley. Watch how the CI product shows increasing probs starting at 1615z along a ridge top 30 to 45 minutes before a line of thunderstorms exploded along the ridgeline. This product also highlighted these storms about 3 hours before a Satellite Precipitation Estimate message was issued by NESDIS. (1907z)

Shawn Smith