Alert archive / Arizona / Mesoscale Discussions in 2004

Mesoscale Discussion 2016

August 16, 20047 counties in Arizona; Grant County, Hidalgo County, Luna County, New Mexico

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Aug 16, 2004, 10:39 AM MST for 7 counties in Arizona; Grant County, Hidalgo County, Luna County, New Mexico. It was in force for 66 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 16, 2004, 10:39 AM MST (17:39 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 2004, 11:45 AM MST
In force
66 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Cochise County, AZ, Graham County, AZ, Greenlee County, AZ, Maricopa County, AZ, Pima County, AZ, Pinal County, AZ, Santa Cruz County, AZ, Grant County, NM, Hidalgo County, NM, Luna County, NM

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:42 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

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 43 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, Tuscon, AZ at 12:00Z on 2004-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3839 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, Tuscon, AZ at 12:00Z on 2004-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 13 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
3839 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
818 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
66 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
6.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

141 
ACUS11 KWNS 161740
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 161739 
NMZ000-AZZ000-161845-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 2016
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1239 PM CDT MON AUG 16 2004

AREAS AFFECTED...SOUTH CENTRAL/SERN AZ AND SWRN NM

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL 

VALID 161739Z - 161845Z

THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OVER SOUTH CENTRAL-SERN AZ
INTO THE AFTERNOON...AND MAY SPREAD SEWD INTO SWRN NM. HAIL AND
STRONG WIND GUSTS WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGEST ACTIVITY.  

REGIONAL RADAR AND VIS IMAGERY INDICATED STORMS HAVE DEVELOPED
DURING THE LAST 1-2 HOURS AROUND TUS...WITHIN A MODERATELY UNSTABLE
AIR MASS.  ALTHOUGH LOW-LEVEL WIND FIELDS REMAIN RATHER WEAK...A
BAND OF 20-30 KT OF NWLY MID-LEVEL FLOW IS RESULTING IN FAVORABLE
DEEP LAYER SHEAR /AROUND 35 KT/ FOR ORGANIZED STORMS.  LARGE SCALE
ASCENT WILL CONTINUE TO BE ENHANCED BY SHORT WAVE TROUGHS OVER SERN
AZ AND SOUTH CENTRAL NM FOR ADDITIONAL STORM DEVELOPMENT INTO THE
AFTERNOON.  LATEST OBJECTIVE ANALYSES INDICATE THE AIR MASS WNWWD
TOWARD PHX IS DESTABILIZING AS WELL... SUPPORTING STORM DEVELOPMENT
OVER SOUTH CENTRAL AZ. WEAK MEAN FLOW AND HIGH PW VALUES /AROUND
1.5 INCHES/ WILL FAVOR HEAVY RAINFALL RATES.  

STEEP LAPSE RATES AS OBSERVED ON 14Z TUS SOUNDING AND MODERATE
INSTABILITY SUGGEST THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE HAIL.  IF RADAR/
SATELLITE TRENDS INDICATE A FURTHER INCREASE IN AREAL COVERAGE...A
PORTION OF THIS AREA WOULD NEED TO BE UPGRADED TO A SLIGHT RISK IN
THE 20Z OUTLOOK AND MAY REQUIRE THE ISSUANCE OF A WW.

..PETERS.. 08/16/2004

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

ATTN...WFO...ABQ...EPZ...TWC...FGZ...PSR...

31631197 32361266 33081344 33621334 34091263 33481137
33151078 33250915 33090777 32070749 31500771 31170880
31271109

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 10:54 AM MSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCMohave2 hr
Aug 16, 1:52 PM MSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCUnion2 hr
Aug 16, 1:55 PM MSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCUnion3 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Arizona, 2004Mesoscale Discussions in New Mexico, 2004Every mesoscale discussion in 2004

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.