Alert archive / Virginia / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003
Mesoscale Discussion 27
The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Jan 16, 2003, 9:53 PM EST for Sussex County, Delaware; 5 counties in Maryland; 36 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jan 16, 2003, 9:53 PM EST (02:53 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 17, 2003, 4:00 AM EST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 42 counties
Sussex County, DE, Dorchester County, MD, Saint Mary's County, MD, Somerset County, MD, Wicomico County, MD, Worcester County, MD, Accomack County, VA, Charles City County, VA, Chesterfield County, VA, City of Colonial Heights, VA, City of Emporia, VA, City of Hampton, VA, City of Hopewell, 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 Williamsburg, VA, Dinwiddie County, VA, Essex County, VA, Gloucester County, VA, Greensville County, VA, Henrico County, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, James City County, VA, King and Queen County, VA, King William County, VA, Lancaster County, VA, Mathews County, VA, Middlesex County, VA, New Kent County, VA, Northampton County, VA, Northumberland County, VA, Prince George County, VA, Richmond County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, Westmoreland County, VA, York County, VA
The radar
The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:54 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
Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 00:00Z, 2.9 hours before the alert went out and 108 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1505 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 68 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 126 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 198 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
242 ACUS11 KWNS 170254 SWOMCD SPC MCD 170253 VAZ000-DEZ000-MDZ000-170900- MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0027 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 0853 PM CST THU JAN 16 2003 AREAS AFFECTED...ERN VA...SRN DE...SRN DELMARVA PENNINSULA CONCERNING...HEAVY SNOW VALID 170253Z - 170900Z MDT TO HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED TO FORM BETWEEN 04-06Z. SNOW RATES NEAR 1 IN/HR WILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH ABOUT 09Z. POCKETS OF FZRA WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE OVER EXTREME SERN VA. CURRENT RADAR TRENDS SHOW INCREASING DBZ OVER ERN NC AND SERN VA. VERY DRY AIR MASS IN PLACE HAS KEPT HOURLY PRECIPITATION RATES LOW THROUGH THE EVENING...HOWEVER...LATEST SURFACE OBSERVATIONS UPSTREAM SHOW HOURLY LIQUID RATES EXCEEDING /0.10/ PER HOUR. ETA AND RUC FORECAST SOUNDINGS SHOW LOW LEVELS BECOMING SATURATED BETWEEN 04-06Z...WITH VERY STRONG UVVS CONTINUING THROUGH ABOUT 9Z. PRECIPITATION TYPE IS EXPECTED TO BE PRIMARILY SNOW NORTH OF NORFOLK VA...WITH THE HEAVIEST ACCUMULATIONS OVER EXTREME E-CENTRAL VA INTO THE CENTRAL DELMARVA PENINSULA. ..JEWELL.. 01/17/2003 ...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT... 36887608 36727689 36657750 36787783 37287767 38287693 38877565 38767486 37837542
Nearby
Mesoscale Discussions in Virginia, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in Maryland, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in Delaware, 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.