Alert archive / Maine / Mesoscale Discussions in 2010

Mesoscale Discussion 2139

December 26, 201011 counties in Maine; 10 counties in New Hampshire

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Dec 26, 2010, 8:38 PM EST for 11 counties in Maine; 10 counties in New Hampshire. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Dec 26, 2010, 8:38 PM EST (01:38 UTC)
Expired
Dec 27, 2010, 2:45 AM EST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 21 counties

Androscoggin County, ME, Cumberland County, ME, Franklin County, ME, Hancock County, ME, Kennebec County, ME, Oxford County, ME, Penobscot County, ME, Sagadahoc County, ME, Waldo County, ME, Washington County, ME, York County, ME, Belknap County, NH, Carroll County, NH, Cheshire County, NH, Coos County, NH, Grafton County, NH, Hillsborough County, NH, Merrimack County, NH, Rockingham County, NH, Strafford County, NH, Sullivan County, NH

The radar

The Portland,ME radar (KGYX), 58 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:41 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

Gray, ME (KGYX), launched 00:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 59 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, Gray, ME at 00:00Z on 2010-12-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Gray, ME at 00:00Z on 2010-12-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 275 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
617 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
78 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
275 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
287 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.

599 
ACUS11 KWNS 270139
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 270138
MEZ000-MAZ000-NHZ000-VTZ000-270745-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 2139
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0738 PM CST SUN DEC 26 2010

AREAS AFFECTED...SRN HALF OF ME...MUCH OF NH

CONCERNING...HEAVY SNOW

VALID 270138Z - 270745Z

SNOWFALL RATES /UP TO 1 IN PER HR/ ARE FORECAST TO INCREASE THROUGH
09Z ACROSS THE SRN HALF OF ME AND MUCH OF NH. WIND GUSTS WILL ALSO
INCREASE DURING THIS TIME...LEADING TO BLOWING SNOW AND REDUCED
VISIBILITY.

INTENSE CYCLONE LIFTING NWD TOWARD NEW ENGLAND IS FORECAST TO
OCCLUDE OVER NIGHT...WHICH WILL CAUSE THE CYCLONICALLY CURVED BRANCH
OF THE WARM CONVEYOR BELT TO WRAP SEWD ACROSS ME AND SWD THROUGH
ERN/SERN NY. AS THIS OCCURS...INTENSE ISENTROPIC UPGLIDE...WHICH IS
CURRENTLY FORCING A PLUME OF OFFSHORE PRECIPITATION...WILL SHIFT NWD
ACROSS THE SRN HALF OF ME AND MUCH OF NH. DEEP SATURATED ISOTHERMAL
LAYER THROUGH 700 MB IS OBSERVED IN 00Z RAOBS AND MODEL FORECAST
SOUNDINGS...AND THEN TRANSITIONS TO A STEEP MIDLEVEL LAPSE RATE
ENVIRONMENT THAT IS EXPECTED TO SUPPORT WEAK CONVECTIVE INSTABILITY
WITH TIME. THE COMBINATION OF STRENGTHENING ISENTROPIC ASCENT AND
WEAK STABILITY WILL FAVOR SNOWFALL RATES UP TO 1 IN/HR...WHICH WILL
SPREAD NWD OUT OF SRN NH/COASTAL ME INTO CNTRL/NRN NH AND CNTRL ME
THROUGH 09Z.

..GARNER.. 12/27/2010

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

ATTN...WFO...CAR...GYX...BOX...BTV...

LAT...LON   45217076 45796896 45856766 45406724 44846704 44556766
            44356871 43906974 43407039 42877086 42717155 42767245
            43537235 44567167 45217076

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 27, 3:30 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAndroscoggin, Franklin, Kennebec, Oxford, Penobscot, Waldo4 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Maine, 2010Mesoscale Discussions in New Hampshire, 2010Every mesoscale discussion in 2010

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.