Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Mesoscale Discussions in 2004

Mesoscale Discussion 615

May 9, 200430 counties in Pennsylvania

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 9, 2004, 1:43 PM EDT for 30 counties in Pennsylvania. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 9, 2004, 1:43 PM EDT (17:43 UTC)
Expired
May 9, 2004, 3:45 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 30 counties

Armstrong County, PA, Berks County, PA, Blair County, PA, Cambria County, PA, Cameron County, PA, Carbon County, PA, Centre County, PA, Clarion County, PA, Clearfield County, PA, Clinton County, PA, Columbia County, PA, Cumberland County, PA, Dauphin County, PA, Elk County, PA, Forest County, PA, Huntingdon County, PA, Indiana County, PA, Jefferson County, PA, Juniata County, PA, Lebanon County, PA, Lehigh County, PA, Luzerne County, PA, Lycoming County, PA, Mifflin County, PA, Montour County, PA, Northumberland County, PA, Perry County, PA, Schuylkill County, PA, Snyder County, PA, Union County, PA

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 212 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2004-05-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 9 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2004-05-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 54 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
9 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-135 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1374 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
71 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.

000 
ACUS11 KWNS 091744
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 091743 
PAZ000-091945-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0615
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1243 PM CDT SUN MAY 09 2004

AREAS AFFECTED...CENTRAL PA

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL 

VALID 091743Z - 091945Z

THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS ANTICIPATED ACROSS CENTRAL PA IN AN E-W
ORIENTED BAND. CELLS WILL TRACK GENERALLY ESEWD AT 20-25 KT.
THREAT OF DAMAGING WINDS AND ISOLATED HAIL WITH THESE STORMS THROUGH
EARLY EVENING MAY NECESSITATE A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH DURING THE
NEXT 1-2 HOURS.

AT 1730Z...VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY INDICATES THAT TOWERING CUMULUS
HAVE DEVELOPED WITHIN AN E-W ORIENTED LOW-LEVEL CONVERGENCE ZONE
STRETCHING FROM 25 SE FKL TO JUST NORTH OF STATE COLLEGE. BOUNDARY
LAYER IS MORE DEEPLY MIXED ACROSS THE WRN HALF OF PA...AND AS THIS
AIR MASS ADVECTS EWD...DESTABILIZATION SHOULD OCCUR ACROSS THE ERN
HALF OF PA THIS AFTERNOON. CONVECTIVE INHIBITION IS MINIMAL IN
VICINITY OF SHOWERS DEVELOPING ON RADAR ACROSS JEFFERSON AND
CLEARFIELD COUNTIES IN W-CENTRAL PA.

MODERATELY STEEP 850-500MB LAPSE RATES /AROUND 7 C/KM/ WILL
CONTRIBUTE TO 100MB MLCAPE VALUES AROUND 1000 J/KG THIS AFTERNOON
ACROSS CENTRAL PA. WBZ HEIGHTS OF 8-9 KFT SHOULD SUPPORT SEVERE HAIL
WITH LONGER LIVED STORMS. ALSO...MODERATE WLY FLOW ON STATE COLLEGE
VAD /30-35 KT IN 3-4 KM LAYER/ SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT FOR LOCALIZED
DAMAGING WIND GUSTS WITH CONVECTIVE DOWNDRAFTS THIS AFTERNOON.

..BANACOS.. 05/09/2004

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

ATTN...WFO...PHI...BGM...CTP...PBZ...

41537942 41497829 41447707 41357612 41307568 40967546
40577537 40227569 40167656 40167786 40257883 40417949
40577980 41097986

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 9, 12:12 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Bedford, Franklin, Fulton3 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Pennsylvania, 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.