Alert archive / Virginia / Mesoscale Discussions in 2004

Mesoscale Discussion 2149

August 30, 2004Saint Mary's County, Maryland; 9 counties in North Carolina; 55 counties in Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Aug 30, 2004, 12:07 PM EDT for Saint Mary's County, Maryland; 9 counties in North Carolina; 55 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 113 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 30, 2004, 12:07 PM EDT (16:07 UTC)
Expired
Aug 30, 2004, 2:00 PM EDT
In force
113 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 65 counties

Saint Mary's County, MD, Camden County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Gates County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Washington County, NC, Amelia County, VA, Brunswick County, VA, Caroline County, VA, Charles City County, VA, Chesterfield County, VA, City of Chesapeake, VA, City of Colonial Heights, VA, City of Emporia, VA, City of Franklin, VA, City of Fredericksburg, VA, City of Hampton, VA, City of Hopewell, VA, City of Newport News, VA, City of Norfolk, VA, City of Petersburg, VA, City of Poquoson, VA, City of Portsmouth, VA, City of Richmond, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, City of Virginia Beach, VA, City of Williamsburg, VA, Cumberland County, VA, Dinwiddie County, VA, Essex County, VA, Fluvanna County, VA, Gloucester County, VA, Goochland County, VA, Greensville County, VA, Hanover County, VA, Henrico County, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, James City County, VA, King and Queen County, VA, King George County, VA, King William County, VA, Lancaster County, VA, Louisa County, VA, Lunenburg County, VA, Mathews County, VA, Middlesex County, VA, New Kent County, VA, Northampton County, VA, Northumberland County, VA, Nottoway County, VA, Powhatan County, VA, Prince Edward County, VA, Prince George County, VA, Richmond County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Spotsylvania County, VA, Stafford County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, Westmoreland County, VA, York County, VA

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 24 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:10 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

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 12:00Z, 4.1 hours before the alert went out and 192 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 2004-08-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2008 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 2004-08-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 45 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
2008 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
468 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
45 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
61 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
2.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

919 
ACUS11 KWNS 301610
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 301607 
NCZ000-VAZ000-MDZ000-301800-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 2149
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1107 AM CDT MON AUG 30 2004

AREAS AFFECTED...SRN/ERN VA...NERN NC...SRN MD

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL 

VALID 301607Z - 301800Z

CONVECTION IS BEGINNING TO INCREASE OVER SRN VA IN ADVANCE OF TD
GASTON.  1630Z OUTLOOK WILL BE UPGRADED TO SLIGHT RISK...AND AREA
WILL BE MONITORED FOR POSSIBLE WW.

VISIBLE IMAGERY SHOWS CONVECTIVE CELLS WITH CG LIGHTNING DEVELOPING
OVER SRN VA TO THE NORTH OF THE CIRCULATION ASSOCIATED WITH TD
GASTON...WITHIN BAND OF ENHANCED LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE EXTENDING
FROM SOUTH CENTRAL VA INTO THE TIDEWATER AREA. STRONGER DIURNAL
HEATING HAS OCCURRED ALONG THE PERIPHERY OF THE DENSE CLOUDS
ATTENDING THE CIRCULATION CENTER...RESULTING IN SUBSTANTIAL
DESTABILIZATION WITH SBCAPE AROUND 3000 J/KG.  LATEST VAD WIND
PROFILE FROM AKQ SHOW STRONG WINDS IN THE LOWEST 3-4 KM AGL THAT
VEER WITH HEIGHT...PROVIDING A VERTICAL SHEAR/HELICITY SUPPORTIVE OF
SMALL SUPERCELLS.  CELLS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP INTO
THE AFTERNOON HOURS...POSSIBLY EXTENDING SWD INTO NERN NC...WITH
POTENTIAL FOR BRIEF TORNADOES TO DEVELOP.

..WEISS.. 08/30/2004

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

ATTN...WFO...AKQ...MHX...LWX...RNK...

35567681 36347696 36727767 36727826 37187862 37847835
38437769 38417639 37557594 36557576 35817551 35367630

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 30, 6:40 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCSaint Mary's, Somerset, Wicomico, Worcester2 hr
Aug 29, 9:13 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Duplin and 18 more92 min
Aug 30, 12:50 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCCurrituck7 hr
Aug 30, 3:06 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAccomack, Amelia, Brunswick, Caroline, Charles City, Chesterfield and 45 more114 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Virginia, 2004Mesoscale Discussions in North Carolina, 2004Mesoscale Discussions in Maryland, 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.