Alert archive / Kansas / Mesoscale Discussions in 2004

Mesoscale Discussion 749

May 18, 200412 counties in Kansas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 18, 2004, 4:28 PM CDT for 12 counties in Kansas. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 2004, 4:28 PM CDT (21:28 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 2004, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Allen County, KS, Barber County, KS, Butler County, KS, Elk County, KS, Greenwood County, KS, Harvey County, KS, Kingman County, KS, Pratt County, KS, Reno County, KS, Sedgwick County, KS, Wilson County, KS, Woodson County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:30 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

Lamont, OK (KLMN), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 130 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, Lamont, OK at 12:00Z on 2004-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1372 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, Lamont, OK at 12:00Z on 2004-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 379 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
1372 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-323 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
772 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
379 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
375 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

280 
ACUS11 KWNS 182128
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 182128 
KSZ000-182330-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0749
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0428 PM CDT TUE MAY 18 2004

AREAS AFFECTED...SCENTRAL KS

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL 

VALID 182128Z - 182330Z

ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP IN THE VICINITY OF ICT IN
THE NEXT 1-2 HRS. A WW WOULD LIKELY BE NEEDED IN THE NEXT HOUR IF
DEEPER CONVECTION IS NOTED.

LATEST VISIBLE IMAGERY SUGGESTS THAT CIN WAS WEAKENING TO THE NW-NE
OF ICT WHERE LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE WAS BEING MAXIMIZED AS OUTFLOW
BOUNDARY APPEARED TO BE MERGING WITH THE SYNOPTIC FRONT. ELSEWHERE
CIN WAS SUFFICIENTLY STRONG AS EVIDENT BY WAVE CLOUDS. A VERY
UNSTABLE AIRMASS WAS IN PLACE WITH MLCAPES FROM 2500 TO 3000 J/KG
PER THE 18Z LAMONT OK SOUNDING. LOW-MID LEVEL SHEAR IS SUFFICIENT
FOR SUPERCELL DEVELOPMENT IF THUNDERSTORM INITIATION CAN OCCUR. LOW
LEVEL SHEAR IS SOMEWHAT MARGINAL FOR TORNADOES / 10-15 KTS 0-1 KM
SHEAR IN THE VICINITY OF THE OUTFLOW/FRONTAL BOUNDARY ZONE/ BUT
GIVEN MAGNITUDE OF INSTABILITY A TORNADO WATCH WOULD LIKELY BE
REQUIRED.

..CROSBIE.. 05/18/2004

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

ATTN...WFO...TOP...ICT...DDC...

37459619 37329768 37139868 37279881 37579890 37989829
38099751 38259643 38189530 38099525 37849515 37489551

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 7:59 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarton, Butler, Clark, Clay, Dickinson, Edwards and 40 more2 hr
May 17, 8:20 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtchison, Brown, Doniphan, Nemaha55 min
May 18, 6:22 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCoffey, Douglas, Franklin, Jefferson, Johnson, Leavenworth and 4 more113 min
May 18, 2:22 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Dickinson, Douglas, Ellsworth, Geary, Jackson and 10 more113 min
May 18, 6:27 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Atchison, Chase, Coffey, Douglas, Franklin and 11 more2 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Kansas, 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.