Alert archive / Colorado / Mesoscale Discussions in 2009

Mesoscale Discussion 1521

July 11, 20094 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Jul 11, 2009, 3:35 PM MDT for 4 states. It was in force for 55 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 11, 2009, 3:35 PM MDT (21:35 UTC)
Expired
Jul 11, 2009, 4:30 PM MDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 37 counties

Adams County, CO, Arapahoe County, CO, Broomfield County, CO, Cheyenne County, CO, Denver County, CO, Douglas County, CO, Elbert County, CO, Kit Carson County, CO, Lincoln County, CO, Logan County, CO, Morgan County, CO, Phillips County, CO, Sedgwick County, CO, Washington County, CO, Weld County, CO, Yuma County, CO, Cheyenne County, KS, Greeley County, KS, Rawlins County, KS, Sherman County, KS, Thomas County, KS, Wallace County, KS, Banner County, NE, Box Butte County, NE, Chase County, NE, Cheyenne County, NE, Deuel County, NE, Dundy County, NE, Garden County, NE, Kimball County, NE, Morrill County, NE, Perkins County, NE, Scotts Bluff County, NE, Sioux County, NE, Goshen County, WY, Laramie County, WY, Platte County, WY

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 108 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:36 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

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 62 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, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2009-07-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 71 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, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2009-07-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 21 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
71 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-408 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1851 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
21 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
48 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.

000 
ACUS11 KWNS 112136
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 112135 
KSZ000-NEZ000-COZ000-WYZ000-112230-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 1521
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0435 PM CDT SAT JUL 11 2009

AREAS AFFECTED...NERN CO...SERN WY...NEB PANHANDLE...NWRN KS

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH LIKELY 

VALID 112135Z - 112230Z

CONSIDERABLE NUMBER OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED
BENEATH UPPER RIDGE OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF CO...LIKELY IN
ASSOCIATION WITH WEAK SHORTWAVE TROUGH THAT IS MASKED WITHIN BROADER
ANTICYCLONIC FLOW ALOFT.  ACTIVITY IS NOW SPREADING/DEVELOPING EAST
ALONG THE PALMER DIVIDE SE OF DENVER AND SHOULD BEGIN INGESTING VERY
MOIST/BUOYANT AIRMASS CHARACTERIZED BY MLCAPE ON THE ORDER OF
2000-4000 J/KG.  WITH DEEP ELY FLOW ACROSS THE CNTRL HIGH PLAINS IT
SEEMS REASONABLE THAT A CONTINUED UPWARD TREND WILL BE NOTED WITH
THIS ACTIVITY...LIKELY INTO MULTIPLE MCS-TYPE CLUSTERS.  INCREASING
CU FIELD ALONG THE LARAMIE RANGE SUGGESTS TSTMS WILL SOON DEVELOP
ACROSS SERN WY AS WELL.  WW WILL BE ISSUED SOON TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS
EVOLUTION.

..DARROW.. 07/11/2009

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

ATTN...WFO...LBF...GLD...PUB...BOU...CYS...

LAT...LON   38940491 41470534 42770465 42470259 39740086 38280150
            38940491

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 11, 12:28 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCheyenne, Kit Carson, Logan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Yuma62 min
Jul 11, 3:56 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdams, Arapahoe, Cheyenne, Elbert, Kit Carson, Lincoln and 7 more9 hr
Jul 11, 2:30 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCJohnson90 min
Jul 11, 6:14 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCKeya Paha61 min
Jul 11, 10:09 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlaine, Brown, Cherry, Custer, Garfield, Greeley and 8 more96 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Colorado, 2009Mesoscale Discussions in Nebraska, 2009Mesoscale Discussions in Kansas, 2009Every mesoscale discussion in 2009

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.