STORM2K

We had this topic pop up at work...

Can you identify the circular features that appear below?





The answer, according to the following link: http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blog/

About 25 minutes after the time of the IR images [shown on the aforementioned link], an interesting meteorological radar signature of bird “roost rings” was observed. Large numbers of birds dispersed from their nocturnal roost sites during the early morning hours to begin feeding, and as the flock crossed the radar beam, ring-like signatures were seen on the Milwaukee/Sullivan radar composite reflectivity product as the birds spread out across the area. Similar radar signatures are also occasionally seen with bat swarms.

At least two of the roost rings appear to have originated from the general vicinity of some of the larger (warmer) lakes noted on the MODIS and GOES IR imagery: Beaver Dam Lake (located northeast of Madison, KMSN), and Lake Koshkonong (located southeast of Madison). As close as one of the larger roost rings came to Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, one also has to wonder if the high density of birds may have potentially been an aviation hazard for a brief period of time?

Oh how cool! I have heard that you can also see the lotus when they are swarming heavily.
I was thinking it was some sort of heat source.

that is awesome! I guess it doesn't get caught on radar often.
Thanks for sharing!

Wow, that has got to be alot of birds to do that to a radar.

That is really cool that birds a good distance apart leave at the exact same time.

That is cool!

It's also migration season. It's not that surprising that there are a lot of birds in one area, but to have it captured on radar is pretty neat.

Use to watch that out of the KMPX radar all the time..although the timming for all of the locations in that loop is impressive. We get similar images from micro quick storm cell outflows at times..definately funky outflow boundries down here.

You can see these things during spring evenings at DFX, as a result of bats:

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/coolimg/

you are right. those would likely be birds. Here in Texas, there are several places that you see the Bats (oh...wxmann_91 just beat me too it). those roost rings are likely centered over/near bodies of water.

"And now for your short term forecast. We expect clear conditions, with three large rings of birds flying over head. There is a 20% chance of something falling from the sky. Sunrise should be a nice one this morning, for those of you that are not blocked out by the birds. If it looks like a scene from the movie 'The Birds', well, maybe it just is."

Yep, I knew it was either birds or bats as soon as I saw it ^^

What a sight to see! Thanks for posting it!

brunota2003 wrote:"And now for your short term forecast. We expect clear conditions, with three large rings of birds flying over head. There is a 20% chance of something falling from the sky. Sunrise should be a nice one this morning, for those of you that are not blocked out by the birds. If it looks like a scene from the movie 'The Birds', well, maybe it just is."

Yep, I knew it was either birds or bats as soon as I saw it ^^

LOL!!

Interesting post senorprp. I remember reading about this on one of the sites too with the bats in TX and another time about insect swarms showing up as a false return.