Alert archive / Michigan / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003

Mesoscale Discussion 518

April 20, 200332 counties in Michigan

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Apr 20, 2003, 3:34 PM EDT for 32 counties in Michigan. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 20, 2003, 3:34 PM EDT (19:34 UTC)
Expired
Apr 20, 2003, 6:00 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 32 counties

Barry County, MI, Bay County, MI, Branch County, MI, Calhoun County, MI, Cass County, MI, Clinton County, MI, Eaton County, MI, Genesee County, MI, Gratiot County, MI, Hillsdale County, MI, Huron County, MI, Ingham County, MI, Ionia County, MI, Jackson County, MI, Kalamazoo County, MI, Kent County, MI, Lapeer County, MI, Lenawee County, MI, Livingston County, MI, Macomb County, MI, Midland County, MI, Monroe County, MI, Montcalm County, MI, Oakland County, MI, Saginaw County, MI, Saint Clair County, MI, Saint Joseph County, MI, Sanilac County, MI, Shiawassee County, MI, Tuscola County, MI, Washtenaw County, MI, Wayne County, MI

The radar

The Grand Rapids radar (KGRR), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:37 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

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 12:00Z, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 101 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, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 2003-04-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 41 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 2003-04-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 177 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
41 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-164 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1190 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
177 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
171 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.

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 20, 3:09 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarry, Bay, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Clinton and 26 more3 hr
Apr 20, 3:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBranch, Calhoun, Clinton, Eaton, Genesee, Hillsdale and 16 more5 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Michigan, 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.