Alert archive / North Carolina / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003
Mesoscale Discussion 2175
The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Aug 17, 2003, 6:25 PM EDT for 60 counties in North Carolina; Cherokee County, Union County, York County, South Carolina; 50 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 2 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 17, 2003, 6:25 PM EDT (22:25 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 17, 2003, 8:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 2 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 113 counties
Alamance County, NC, Alexander County, NC, Alleghany County, NC, Anson County, NC, Ashe County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Burke County, NC, Cabarrus County, NC, Caldwell County, NC, Camden County, NC, Caswell County, NC, Catawba County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Cleveland County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Davidson County, NC, Davie County, NC, Durham County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Forsyth County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Gaston County, NC, Gates County, NC, Granville County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Iredell County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Lee County, NC, Lincoln County, NC, Martin County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Nash County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Orange County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Perquimans 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, Tyrrell County, NC, Union County, NC, Vance County, NC, Wake County, NC, Warren County, NC, Washington County, NC, Watauga County, NC, Wilkes County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Yadkin County, NC, Cherokee County, SC, Union County, SC, York County, SC, Amelia County, VA, Appomattox County, VA, Bedford County, VA, Brunswick County, VA, Buckingham County, VA, Campbell 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 Galax, 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 Portsmouth, VA, City of Radford, VA, City of Richmond, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, City of Williamsburg, VA, Cumberland County, VA, Dinwiddie County, VA, Floyd County, VA, Franklin County, VA, Grayson County, VA, Greensville County, VA, Halifax County, VA, Henrico County, VA, Henry County, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, Lunenburg County, VA, Mecklenburg County, VA, Nottoway County, VA, Patrick County, VA, Pittsylvania County, VA, Powhatan County, VA, Prince Edward County, VA, Prince George County, VA, Pulaski County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, Wythe County, VA
The radar
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 80 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:26 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 nearest sounding before it
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 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
- 994 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -68 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1043 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 18 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -1 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 1 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
363 ACUS11 KWNS 172226 SWOMCD SPC MCD 172225 NCZ000-VAZ000-SCZ000-TNZ000-180030- MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 2175 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 0525 PM CDT SUN AUG 17 2003 AREAS AFFECTED...SRN VA THROUGH NC AND NWRN SC CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 866... VALID 172225Z - 180030Z THREAT FOR ISOLATED WET MICRO BURSTS EXPECTED TO PERSIST THROUGH EARLY EVENING. ACTIVITY SHOULD BEGIN A GRADUAL DECREASE WITH LOSS OF HEATING. WV IMAGERY SHOWS AREA OF MID/UPPER DRYING ASSOCIATED WITH LARGER SCALE SUBSIDENCE SPREADING SEWD THROUGH MUCH OF VA AND INTO NRN NC. AN UPSTREAM SHORTWAVE TROUGH CONTINUES SEWD THROUGH BASE OF UPPER TROUGH INTO ERN KY. AT THE SURFACE...NUMEROUS OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES EXIST IN WARM SECTOR S OF WEAK SURFACE FRONT THAT EXTENDS ACROSS SRN VA. THE ATMOSPHERE REMAINS MODERATELY UNSTABLE ALONG AND SOUTH OF THIS BOUNDARY. SLIGHTLY COOLER MID LEVEL TEMPERATURES EXIST ON SRN PORTION OF UPPER TROUGH ACROSS VA INTO NRN NC. HOWEVER...THERMODYNAMIC PROFILES ARE STILL SOMEWHAT WARM WITH MARGINAL LAPSE RATES...AND THIS IS LIMITING UPDRAFT STRENGTH AND OVERALL HAIL/SEVERE POTENTIAL. LEADING EDGE OF MID LEVEL DRYING SPREADING SEWD THROUGH SRN VA INTO NRN NC MAY ENHANCE POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED WET MICRO BURSTS AS CLUSTERS OF MULTICELL STORMS DEVELOP SEWD NEXT FEW HOURS. STORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DECREASE FROM THE N ACROSS VA AS DEEPER DRYING ASSOCIATED WITH STRONGER SUBSIDENCE DEVELOPS SWD. ..DIAL.. 08/17/2003 ...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT... ATTN...WFO...AKQ...MHX...LWX...RAH...RNK...CAE...GSP...MRX... 36507582 35787564 35507772 35097954 34738119 34498176 35348183 36028180 36728178 37098074 37327961 37657864 37567733 37117636
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, 1:52 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Alexander, Alleghany, Bertie, Cabarrus, Caswell and 40 more | 113 min |
| 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 |
Nearby
Mesoscale Discussions in North Carolina, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in Virginia, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in South 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.