Alert archive / North Carolina / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003

Mesoscale Discussion 49

February 4, 200330 counties in North Carolina; 16 counties in South Carolina; Halifax County, Mecklenburg County, Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Feb 4, 2003, 5:04 AM EST for 30 counties in North Carolina; 16 counties in South Carolina; Halifax County, Mecklenburg County, Virginia. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Feb 4, 2003, 5:04 AM EST (10:04 UTC)
Expired
Feb 4, 2003, 8:00 AM EST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 48 counties

Alamance County, NC, Anson County, NC, Cabarrus County, NC, Caswell County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Davidson County, NC, Durham County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Granville County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Lee County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Nash County, NC, Orange County, NC, Person County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Rowan County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Union County, NC, Vance County, NC, Wake County, NC, Warren County, NC, Chester County, SC, Chesterfield County, SC, Darlington County, SC, Edgefield County, SC, Fairfield County, SC, Greenwood County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Lancaster County, SC, Lee County, SC, Lexington County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, Newberry County, SC, Richland County, SC, Saluda County, SC, Sumter County, SC, York County, SC, Halifax County, VA, Mecklenburg County, VA

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 95 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 2003-02-04Temperature 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 2003-02-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 207 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
2773 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
207 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
240 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.

385 
ACUS11 KWNS 041005
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 041004 
VAZ000-NCZ000-SCZ000-041300-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0049
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0404 AM CST TUE FEB 04 2003

AREAS AFFECTED...S CNTRL VA/CNTRL NC/CNTRL AND ERN SC

CONCERNING...CONVECTIVE TRENDS 

VALID 041004Z - 041300Z

POTENTIAL FOR SOME WIND DAMAGE EXISTS AS SURFACE FRONT PROGRESSES
ACROSS THE CAROLINAS/SOUTHERN VIRGINIA THIS MORNING.



NARROW FRONTAL CONVECTIVE BAND HAS PROGRESSED INTO THE LEE SLOPES
OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS...AND IS ADVANCING EAST
NORTHEASTWARD  AROUND 40 KT.  THIS MOTION WILL CONTINUE THROUGH
THE MID MORNING HOURS...IN ASSOCIATION WITH STRONGER FORCING FOR
UPWARD VERTICAL MOTION AHEAD OF APPROACHING TROUGH AXIS...WHICH
HAS BECOME NEGATIVELY TILTED PAST FEW HOURS.  WEAK CONVECTIVE
LINE APPEARS LIKELY TO SPREAD THROUGH THE CHARLOTTE NC AND
COLUMBIA SC AREAS BY AROUND 12Z...THEN INTO THE RALEIGH-DURHAM NC
AND FLORENCE SC AREAS BY 15Z.



MODEL FORECAST SOUNDINGS INDICATE ACTIVITY IS LIKELY BASED ABOVE
MOIST STABLE OR NEAR NEUTRAL SURFACE LAYER...AND SUGGEST MINIMAL
LIKELIHOOD OF DOWNWARD MOMENTUM TRANSFER OF VERY STRONG WIND
FIELD AT AND ABOVE 850 MB.  HOWEVER...DUE TO STRONG PRESSURE
GRADIENT NEAR FRONTAL ZONE...SURFACE WINDS ARE STRONG AND
GUSTY...AND MAY BRIEFLY APPROACH SEVERE LIMITS.  



..KERR.. 02/04/2003

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

35818044 36997862 36487775 35357820 33748034 33588183
34078223

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in North Carolina, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in South Carolina, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in Virginia, 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.