Alert archive / Virginia / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003

Mesoscale Discussion 33

January 30, 2003Sussex County, Delaware; 12 counties in Maryland; 30 counties in Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Jan 30, 2003, 2:18 PM EST for Sussex County, Delaware; 12 counties in Maryland; 30 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jan 30, 2003, 2:18 PM EST (19:18 UTC)
Expired
Jan 30, 2003, 6:15 PM EST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 43 counties

Sussex County, DE, Anne Arundel County, MD, Calvert County, MD, Caroline County, MD, Charles County, MD, Dorchester County, MD, Kent County, MD, Prince George's County, MD, Queen Anne's County, MD, Saint Mary's County, MD, Somerset County, MD, Talbot County, MD, Wicomico County, MD, Amelia County, VA, Caroline County, VA, Charles City County, VA, Chesterfield County, VA, City of Colonial Heights, VA, City of Fredericksburg, VA, City of Hopewell, VA, City of Petersburg, VA, City of Richmond, VA, Cumberland County, VA, Dinwiddie County, VA, Essex County, VA, Goochland County, VA, Hanover County, VA, Henrico County, VA, King and Queen County, VA, King George County, VA, King William County, VA, Lancaster County, VA, Middlesex County, VA, New Kent County, VA, Northumberland County, VA, Nottoway County, VA, Powhatan County, VA, Prince Edward County, VA, Prince George County, VA, Richmond County, VA, Spotsylvania County, VA, Stafford County, VA, Westmoreland County, VA

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 96 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:19 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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 128 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2003-01-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2003-01-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -59 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
822 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-59 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
39 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
ACUS11 KWNS 301919
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 301918 
MDZ000-VAZ000-DEZ000-302315-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0033
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0118 PM CST THU JAN 30 2003

AREAS AFFECTED...ERN MD/ERN VA DE AND DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

CONCERNING...PRECIPITATION TRENDS...WINTER PRECIPITATION 

VALID 301918Z - 302315Z

LATEST WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWED A VORT MAX ROTATING AROUND THE
BASE OF A TROUGH ACROSS TN/KY. AS THIS FEATURE MOVES E/NE...LIFT
WILL INCREASE ACROSS THE DISCUSSION AREA WITH MODERATE
PRECIPITATION DEVELOPING. SFC FREEZING LINE CURRENTLY EXTENDS
FROM AROUND BWI INTO CNTRL VA  THEN EAST TO AROUND WAKEFIELD.
AREA OF PRECIPITATION WILL MOVE INTO THIS COOLER WEDGE OF
AIR...RESULTING IN AREAS OF FZRA AND SNOW. 15Z RUC MODEL
INDICATED AROUND A QUARTER INCH OF PRECIPITATION THROUGH
00Z...WITH PCPN CONTINUING AFTER 31/00Z. RUC PTYPE ALGORITHM
SUGGESTS MUCH OF THIS WILL FALL AS SNOW...ALTHOUGH A NARROW BAND
OF FZRA IS POSSIBLE AS WELL. SNOWFALL RATES MAY OCCASIONALLY
APPROACH 1/HR THOUGH THE AFTN/EARLY EVENING.  

..TAYLOR.. 01/30/2003

...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT...

37197851 38187779 39467636 38607505 37177717 36837798

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.