Alert archive / Virginia / Mesoscale Discussions in 2011

Mesoscale Discussion 2140

September 5, 2011Stokes County, Surry County, North Carolina; 22 counties in Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Sep 5, 2011, 11:47 PM EDT for Stokes County, Surry County, North Carolina; 22 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 88 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 5, 2011, 11:47 PM EDT (03:47 UTC)
Expired
Sep 6, 2011, 1:15 AM EDT
In force
88 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 24 counties

Stokes County, NC, Surry County, NC, Amherst County, VA, Appomattox County, VA, Bedford County, VA, Buckingham County, VA, Campbell County, VA, Carroll County, VA, Charlotte County, VA, City of Danville, VA, City of Galax, VA, City of Lynchburg, VA, City of Martinsville, VA, City of Roanoke, VA, Cumberland County, VA, Floyd County, VA, Fluvanna County, VA, Franklin County, VA, Halifax County, VA, Henry County, VA, Nelson County, VA, Patrick County, VA, Pittsylvania County, VA, Prince Edward County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 45 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:48 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

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 00:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 35 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, Roanoke, VA at 00:00Z on 2011-09-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 272 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, Roanoke, VA at 00:00Z on 2011-09-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 108 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
272 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
634 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
108 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
170 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

130 
ACUS11 KWNS 060347
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 060347 
VAZ000-NCZ000-060515-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 2140
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1047 PM CDT MON SEP 05 2011

AREAS AFFECTED...PORTIONS NWRN NC...SRN/CENTRAL VA.

CONCERNING...TORNADO WATCH 844...

VALID 060347Z - 060515Z

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR TORNADO WATCH 844 CONTINUES.

PORTIONS WW HAVE BEEN CLEARED FROM S-N IN STEP WITH CONVECTIVE
TRENDS.  REMAINDER WW MAY BE CLEARED BEFORE SCHEDULED 08Z
EXPIRATION.

WHILE SOME TORNADO POTENTIAL STILL EXISTS...IT IS BECOMING MORE
MRGL/CONDITIONAL WITH TIME GIVEN TWO PRIMARY TRENDS...
1. STABILIZING EFFECTS OF PERSISTENT PRECIP GENERALLY W OF
CHO-ROA-MKJ LINE...WHICH HAS REINFORCED PRE-EXISTING BAROCLINIC
ZONE...AND MAINTAINED OR EVEN INCREASED BOTH BOUNDARY-LAYER STATIC
STABILITY AND MLCINH.
2. GEN DECREASE IN OVERALL CONVECTIVE COVERAGE/DEPTH FARTHER UPSHEAR
OVER CAROLINAS/GA...RELATED TO COMBINATION OF LACK OF LOW-LEVEL
CONVERGENCE AND STABILIZING EFFECTS OF EARLIER PREFRONTAL MCS ACROSS
SC.

POCKETS OF MRGL INSTABILITY MAY STILL LINGER ACROSS THIS AREA...WITH
MLCAPE 250-800 J/KG...AND PERSISTENCE OF ENHANCED LOW-LEVEL SRH
CORRIDOR NEAR AND E OF BLUE RIDGE.  ANY PERSISTENT CELLS THAT FORM
IN THIS ENVIRONMENT MAY ROTATE...HOWEVER LOW-LEVEL FORCING FOR
ASCENT E OF FRONT REMAINS RATHER NEBULOUS.

..EDWARDS.. 09/06/2011

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

ATTN...WFO...AKQ...LWX...RAH...RNK...

LAT...LON   36668104 38037876 37747797 36497893 36268087 36668104

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 5, 8:36 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnson, Cumberland, Hoke, Montgomery, Moore, Richmond and 3 more84 min
Sep 6, 3:30 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCRockingham, Stokes60 min
Sep 6, 4:36 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Caswell, Chatham, Davidson and 22 more84 min
Sep 6, 5:17 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCAlamance, Alleghany, Anson, Bladen, Brunswick, Caswell and 43 more9 hr
Sep 6, 8:35 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Anson, Bladen, Brunswick, Cabarrus, Catawba and 42 more85 min
Sep 6, 9:51 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCAlexander, Avery, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Catawba and 13 more6 hr
Sep 6, 12:41 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Alleghany, Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen and 55 more64 min
Sep 6, 1:32 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCAlamance, Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick and 48 more7 hr
Sep 6, 4:41 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick and 46 more64 min
Sep 6, 7:33 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret and 38 more117 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Virginia, 2011Mesoscale Discussions in North Carolina, 2011Every mesoscale discussion in 2011

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.