Alert archive / Virginia / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003
Mesoscale Discussion 2171
The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Aug 17, 2003, 1:52 PM EDT for 46 counties in North Carolina; 61 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 113 min.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 17, 2003, 1:52 PM EDT (17:52 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 17, 2003, 3:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 113 min
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 107 counties
Alamance County, NC, Alexander County, NC, Alleghany County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Cabarrus County, NC, Caswell County, NC, Catawba County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Davidson County, NC, Davie County, NC, Durham County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Forsyth County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Gates County, NC, Granville County, NC, Greene County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Iredell County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Lee County, NC, Martin County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Nash County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Orange County, NC, Person County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Rockingham County, NC, Rowan County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Stokes County, NC, Surry County, NC, Vance County, NC, Wake County, NC, Warren County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilkes County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Yadkin County, NC, Amelia County, VA, Appomattox County, VA, Bedford County, VA, Brunswick County, VA, Buckingham County, VA, Campbell County, VA, Caroline County, VA, Carroll County, VA, Charles City County, VA, Charlotte County, VA, Chesterfield County, VA, City of Chesapeake, VA, City of Colonial Heights, VA, City of Danville, VA, City of Emporia, VA, City of Franklin, VA, City of Hampton, VA, City of Hopewell, VA, City of Lynchburg, VA, City of Martinsville, VA, City of Newport News, VA, City of Norfolk, VA, City of Petersburg, VA, City of Poquoson, VA, City of Portsmouth, VA, City of Richmond, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, City of Williamsburg, VA, Cumberland County, VA, Dinwiddie County, VA, Essex County, VA, Floyd County, VA, Fluvanna County, VA, Franklin County, VA, Gloucester County, VA, Goochland County, VA, Greensville County, VA, Halifax County, VA, Hanover County, VA, Henrico County, VA, Henry County, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, James City County, VA, King and Queen County, VA, King William County, VA, Louisa County, VA, Lunenburg County, VA, Mecklenburg County, VA, Middlesex County, VA, New Kent County, VA, Nottoway County, VA, Patrick County, VA, Pittsylvania County, VA, Powhatan County, VA, Prince Edward County, VA, Prince George County, VA, Richmond County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, York County, VA
The radar
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 115 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:55 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
The watches that followed
Watches SPC issued over any of the same counties within four hours of this discussion.
The nearest sounding before it
Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 79 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 402 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -158 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1036 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 64 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 69 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
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</html>SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 17, 12:06 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Caldwell and 18 more | 114 min |
| Aug 17, 1:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Avery, Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood and 11 more | 6 hr |
| Aug 17, 2:20 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Alamance, Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Burke, Cabarrus and 40 more | 6 hr |
| Aug 17, 4:27 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Avery, Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood and 11 more | 2 hr |
| Aug 17, 6:16 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Avery, Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood and 11 more | 59 min |
| Aug 17, 6:25 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Alexander, Alleghany, Anson, Ashe, Bertie and 54 more | 2 hr |
Nearby
Mesoscale Discussions in Virginia, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in North Carolina, 2003Every mesoscale discussion in 2003
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.