EWP: UW-CTC captures Gulf of Mexico convection

Scattered thunderstorms were developing across the northeastern quadrant of the Gulf of Mexico.  This region of the Gulf of Mexico has large amounts of air traffic routes between the Houston, Jacksonville, and Miami centers.  The accumulated UW-CTC field (Figure 1) valid at 1715 UTC 09 May 2012 (bottom right panel below) shows all the UW-CTC rates from the period 1615-1715 UTC.  This accumulation of CTC rates over the Gulf of Mexico and along northern Gulf Coast can be useful for air traffic routing.

Figure 1.  Valid 1715 UTC 09 May 2012.  Top left is GOES IR-window brightness temperatures, top right is GOES visible reflectance, bottom left is instantenous UW-CTC (valid 1715 UTC), and bottom right the the 60-minute accumulated UW-CTC (for the period 1615-1715 UTC).