Alert archive / North Carolina / Mesoscale Discussions in 2008

Mesoscale Discussion 2000

August 2, 200862 counties in North Carolina; 34 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Aug 2, 2008, 6:26 PM EDT for 62 counties in North Carolina; 34 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 94 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 2, 2008, 6:26 PM EDT (22:26 UTC)
Expired
Aug 2, 2008, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
94 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 96 counties

Alamance County, NC, Alexander County, NC, Alleghany County, NC, Anson County, NC, Ashe County, NC, Avery County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Buncombe County, NC, Burke County, NC, Cabarrus County, NC, Caldwell County, NC, Caswell County, NC, Catawba County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Cleveland County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Davidson County, NC, Davie County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Durham County, NC, Forsyth County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Gaston County, NC, Granville County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Henderson County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Iredell County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Lee County, NC, Lincoln County, NC, Madison County, NC, McDowell County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Mitchell County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Orange County, NC, Person County, NC, Polk County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Robeson County, NC, Rockingham County, NC, Rowan County, NC, Rutherford County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Stokes County, NC, Surry County, NC, Transylvania County, NC, Union County, NC, Wake County, NC, Watauga County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilkes County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Yadkin County, NC, Yancey County, NC, Abbeville County, SC, Aiken County, SC, Anderson County, SC, Bamberg County, SC, Calhoun County, SC, Cherokee County, SC, Chester County, SC, Chesterfield County, SC, Clarendon County, SC, Darlington County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Edgefield County, SC, Fairfield County, SC, Florence County, SC, Greenville County, SC, Greenwood County, SC, Horry County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Lancaster County, SC, Laurens County, SC, Lee County, SC, Lexington County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, Newberry County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC, Pickens County, SC, Richland County, SC, Saluda County, SC, Spartanburg County, SC, Sumter County, SC, Union County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC, York County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 103 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:29 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 169 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2008-08-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 617 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2008-08-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 47 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
617 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-84 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1463 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
102 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
ACUS11 KWNS 022226
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 022226 
NCZ000-SCZ000-TNZ000-030000-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 2000
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0526 PM CDT SAT AUG 02 2008

AREAS AFFECTED...PORTIONS SC/NC.

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 792...795...

VALID 022226Z - 030000Z

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
792...795...CONTINUES.

TSTMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE MOVING SEWD ACROSS WW 792 AND ERN
PORTIONS NEW WW 795 ACROSS CAROLINAS...WITH INCREASING CONVECTIVE
COVERAGE OVER AREAS FARTHER SE IN LOWER PIEDMONT AND COASTAL PLAIN. 
MULTICELLULAR HAIL/DOWNBURST POTENTIAL WILL CONTINUE FOR A FEW MORE
HOURS...THEREFORE ANOTHER WW MAY BE REQUIRED.

SFC MESOANALYSIS SHOWS TWO PRIMARY LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE ZONES --
MAIN ONE BEING OVER APPALACHIANS/FOOTHILLS FROM GSO SWWD BETWEEN
CHA-ATL...AND SMALLER/SHORTER BOUNDARY FROM WARREN COUNTY NC SWWD
ACROSS LANCASTER COUNTY SC.  SCATTERED TSTMS HAVE DEVELOPED ALONG
LATTER BOUNDARY...WHICH SHOULD MOVE SLOWLY SEWD WITH AID FROM
OUTFLOW PRODUCED BY CONVECTION THEREWITH.  PRECONVECTIVE BOUNDARY
LAYER WILL REMAIN WARM AND WELL-MIXED FOR ANOTHER COUPLE
HOURS...WITH SFC TEMPS GENERALLY 90S AND DEW POINTS INCREASING FROM 
MID 60S IN WRN CAROLINAS TO 70S COASTAL PLAIN.  ACCORDINGLY MODIFIED
RAOBS AND RUC SOUNDINGS YIELD MLCAPES 1000-2000 J/KG...ATOP VERY
STEEP SUBCLOUD LAPSE RATES SUPPORTING STG-SVR GUST THREAT.  BUOYANCY
WILL REMAIN NEARLY CONSTANT OUTSIDE OUTFLOW AREAS THROUGH ABOUT
01Z...AS DECREASE IN TEMPS IS OFFSET BY INCREASING SFC DEW POINTS IN
AREAS OF PRIOR STG MIXING.  DURING EVENING...EXPECT CONTINUED SFC
COOLING TO BEGIN LOWERING BUOYANCY AND DIMINISHING POTENTIAL
UPDRAFT/DOWNDRAFT VIGOR...WITH SVR THREAT SLOWLY BECOMING MORE
ISOLATED/CONDITIONAL.  WEAK LOW LEVEL WINDS AND LACK OF MORE ROBUST
DEEP-LAYER SHEAR OVER THIS REGION SHOULD MAINTAIN PREDOMINANT
MULTICELL MODE...WITH SOME CLUSTERING AND AMALGAMATED COLD POOLS
POSSIBLY ENHANCING POTENTIAL FOR LOCAL CONCENTRATIONS OF DAMAGING
WIND.

..EDWARDS.. 08/02/2008

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

ATTN...WFO...MHX...RAH...ILM...RNK...CHS...CAE...GSP...MRX...

33538197 34638274 35748299 36518155 36477857 35557774
34617778 34137843 33807900 33547989 33168116

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 2, 11:45 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Cabarrus, Chatham, Davidson, Durham, Guilford and 12 more30 min
Aug 2, 12:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAlamance, Alexander, Alleghany, Anson, Ashe, Burke and 50 more8 hr
Aug 2, 2:30 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Alexander, Alleghany, Anson, Ashe, Avery and 55 more90 min
Aug 2, 7:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBeaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven and 25 more6 hr
Aug 2, 5:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAbbeville, Anderson, Cherokee, Chester, Greenville, Greenwood and 6 more5 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in North Carolina, 2008Mesoscale Discussions in South Carolina, 2008Every mesoscale discussion in 2008

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.