Alert archive / Kentucky / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003

Mesoscale Discussion 997

May 15, 200343 counties in Kentucky; 21 counties in Tennessee; 7 counties in Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 15, 2003, 12:22 PM CDT for 43 counties in Kentucky; 21 counties in Tennessee; 7 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 53 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 15, 2003, 12:22 PM CDT (17:22 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 2003, 1:15 PM CDT
In force
53 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 71 counties

Adair County, KY, Barren County, KY, Bell County, KY, Boyle County, KY, Breathitt County, KY, Casey County, KY, Clay County, KY, Clinton County, KY, Cumberland County, KY, Estill County, KY, Floyd County, KY, Garrard County, KY, Green County, KY, Harlan County, KY, Jackson County, KY, Johnson County, KY, Knott County, KY, Knox County, KY, Laurel County, KY, Lee County, KY, Leslie County, KY, Letcher County, KY, Lincoln County, KY, Madison County, KY, Magoffin County, KY, Martin County, KY, McCreary County, KY, Menifee County, KY, Metcalfe County, KY, Monroe County, KY, Morgan County, KY, Owsley County, KY, Perry County, KY, Pike County, KY, Powell County, KY, Pulaski County, KY, Rockcastle County, KY, Rowan County, KY, Russell County, KY, Taylor County, KY, Wayne County, KY, Whitley County, KY, Wolfe County, KY, Anderson County, TN, Campbell County, TN, Claiborne County, TN, Clay County, TN, Fentress County, TN, Grainger County, TN, Greene County, TN, Hamblen County, TN, Hancock County, TN, Hawkins County, TN, Jackson County, TN, Jefferson County, TN, Knox County, TN, Morgan County, TN, Overton County, TN, Pickett County, TN, Putnam County, TN, Scott County, TN, Sullivan County, TN, Union County, TN, Washington County, TN, Buchanan County, VA, City of Norton, VA, Dickenson County, VA, Lee County, VA, Russell County, VA, Scott County, VA, Wise County, VA

The radar

The Jackson,KY radar (KJKL), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:26 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 watches that followed

Watches SPC issued over any of the same counties within four hours of this discussion.

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 5.4 hours before the alert went out and 250 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2003-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 663 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2003-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 30 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
663 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
607 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
65 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

342 
ACUS11 KWNS 151723
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 151722 
VAZ000-TNZ000-KYZ000-151815-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0997
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1222 PM CDT THU MAY 15 2003

AREAS AFFECTED...ERN KY...NERN TN...SWRN VA

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL 

VALID 151722Z - 151815Z

NEW WW WILL BE ISSUED SOON FOR PARTS OF EASTERN KY...NORTHEAST
TN....AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST VA.

CLUSTER OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER  CENTRAL KY CONTINUES TO TRACK
EAST-SOUTHEASTWARD...AND WILL MOVE OUT OF WW 378 IN THE NEXT HOUR OR
SO.  VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS OUTFLOW BOUNDARY FROM EARLIER
STORMS EXTENDING ROUGHLY FROM GREEN/ADAIR COUNTY KY TO NEAR TRI. 
STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO FOCUS ALONG THIS AXIS AS THEY SPREAD EASTWARD
DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS.  GIVEN TRENDS...NEW WW WILL LIKELY BE
ISSUED SHORTLY.


..HART.. 05/15/2003

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

ATTN...WFO...RLX...MRX...JKL...LMK...OHX...

37508521 38238343 37918252 37248197 36218233 35818399
36068563 37048612

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 14, 8:15 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrittenden, Henderson, Hopkins, Livingston, McLean, Union and 1 more60 min
May 14, 8:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCaldwell, Crittenden, Livingston, Union4 hr
May 14, 9:24 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCarroll, Henry, Oldham, Trimble96 min
May 14, 10:10 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBallard, Caldwell, Carlisle, Crittenden, Fulton, Graves and 5 more2 hr
May 15, 6:52 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Allen, Barren, Bell, Boyle, Breathitt and 68 more2 hr
May 15, 10:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAnderson, Bath, Boone, Bourbon, Boyle, Bracken and 53 more6 hr
May 15, 12:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdair, Barren, Bell, Boyle, Breathitt, Casey and 41 more5 hr
May 15, 2:20 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Allen, Anderson, Barren, Bath, Bell and 90 more85 min
May 15, 4:42 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Caldwell, Calloway, Christian, Graves, Logan and 9 more63 min
May 15, 5:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAllen, Christian, Logan, Monroe, Simpson, Todd and 1 more6 hr
May 15, 11:08 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCarter, Johnson2 hr
May 15, 3:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCarter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Jefferson, Sevier and 2 more6 hr
May 15, 5:06 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCarter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Jefferson, Sevier and 2 more84 min
May 15, 6:39 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCSevier2 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Kentucky, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in Tennessee, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.