Alert archive / Virginia / Mesoscale Discussions in 2011

Mesoscale Discussion 358

April 5, 20114 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Apr 5, 2011, 2:13 AM EDT for 4 states. It was in force for 32 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 5, 2011, 2:13 AM EDT (06:13 UTC)
Expired
Apr 5, 2011, 2:45 AM EDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 120 counties

Kent County, DE, Sussex County, DE, Anne Arundel County, MD, Calvert County, MD, Caroline County, MD, Charles County, MD, City of Baltimore, MD, Dorchester County, MD, Howard County, MD, Kent County, MD, Montgomery County, MD, Prince George's County, MD, Queen Anne's County, MD, Saint Mary's County, MD, Somerset County, MD, Talbot County, MD, Wicomico County, MD, Worcester County, MD, Forsyth County, NC, Rockingham County, NC, Stokes County, NC, Surry County, NC, Yadkin County, NC, Accomack County, VA, Albemarle County, VA, Amelia County, VA, Amherst County, VA, Appomattox County, VA, Arlington County, VA, Bedford County, VA, Botetourt County, VA, Brunswick County, VA, Buckingham County, VA, Campbell County, VA, Caroline County, VA, Carroll County, VA, Charles City County, VA, Charlotte County, VA, Chesterfield County, VA, City of Alexandria, VA, City of Buena Vista, VA, City of Charlottesville, VA, City of Chesapeake, VA, City of Colonial Heights, VA, City of Danville, VA, City of Emporia, VA, City of Fairfax, VA, City of Falls Church, VA, City of Franklin, VA, City of Fredericksburg, VA, City of Hampton, VA, City of Hopewell, VA, City of Lexington, VA, City of Lynchburg, VA, City of Manassas, VA, City of Manassas Park, VA, City of Martinsville, VA, City of Newport News, VA, City of Norfolk, VA, City of Petersburg, VA, City of Poquoson, VA, City of Portsmouth, VA, City of Richmond, VA, City of Roanoke, VA, City of Salem, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, City of Virginia Beach, VA, City of Waynesboro, VA, City of Williamsburg, VA, Culpeper County, VA, Cumberland County, VA, Dinwiddie County, VA, Essex County, VA, Fairfax County, VA, Fauquier County, VA, Floyd County, VA, Fluvanna County, VA, Franklin County, VA, Gloucester County, VA, Goochland County, VA, Greene County, VA, Greensville County, VA, Halifax County, VA, Hanover County, VA, Henrico County, VA, Henry County, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, James City County, VA, King and Queen County, VA, King George County, VA, King William County, VA, Lancaster County, VA, Louisa County, VA, Lunenburg County, VA, Madison County, VA, Mathews County, VA, Mecklenburg County, VA, Middlesex County, VA, Nelson County, VA, New Kent County, VA, Northampton County, VA, Northumberland County, VA, Nottoway County, VA, Orange County, VA, Patrick County, VA, Pittsylvania County, VA, Powhatan County, VA, Prince Edward County, VA, Prince George County, VA, Prince William County, VA, Rappahannock County, VA, Richmond County, VA, Rockbridge County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Spotsylvania County, VA, Stafford County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, Westmoreland County, VA, York County, VA

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 121 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:14 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

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 00:00Z, 6.2 hours before the alert went out and 106 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 2011-04-05Temperature 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, Roanoke, VA at 00:00Z on 2011-04-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 258 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2731 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
258 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
349 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.

882 
ACUS11 KWNS 050614
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 050613
DEZ000-MDZ000-VAZ000-NCZ000-DCZ000-050645-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0358
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0113 AM CDT TUE APR 05 2011

AREAS AFFECTED...PORTIONS VA...MD...DC...DE...NWRN NC.

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 99...

VALID 050613Z - 050645Z

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 99
CONTINUES.

WW IS BEING REPLACED TO COVER INCREASING QLCS-TORNADO AND EMBEDDED
SUPERCELL THREAT...ESPECIALLY INVOF BOUNDARY DESCRIBED BELOW...AND
ALSO DAMAGING WIND THREAT EXTENDING AS FAR AS ATLANTIC COAST OF
DELMARVA REGION AND VA TIDEWATER BY ABOUT 13Z.  PERSISTENT/SVR BAND
OF TSTMS OVER WRN PORTIONS NC/VA WILL CONTINUE MOVING EWD THROUGH WW
AREA...AND SHOULD CLEAR WW BY ABOUT 830Z.  NEW WW MAY BE CLEARED
BEHIND THIS LINE.

SFC MESOANALYSIS SHOWS OUTFLOW BOUNDARY FROM EARLIER CONVECTION FROM
NEAR DCA ARCHING SWWD ACROSS FVX...THEN WSWWD ACROSS SRN TIER OF VA
COUNTIES...INTERSECTING QLCS INVOF NC/VA BORDER W MTV.  STG SFC
PRESSURE FALLS WERE ANALYZED NEAR THAT INTERSECTION...INDICATING
POSSIBLE MESOLOW DEVELOPMENT IN ADDITION TO FALLS ASSOCIATED WITH
WAA/AIR MASS RECOVERY FROM EARLIER COLD POOL IMMEDIATELY TO ITS E.
LOW-LEVEL VORTICITY WILL BE MAXIMIZED ALONG AND JUST N OF OUTFLOW
BOUNDARY...AS WILL HODOGRAPH SIZE AND SRH...INDICATING ENHANCED
POTENTIAL FOR LOW-MIDDLE LEVEL/STORM-SCALE ROTATION AND RELATIVELY
MAXIMIZED TORNADO PROBABILITIES.  EMBEDDED/SMALL-SCALE VORTICES ALSO
MAY DEVELOP IN OTHER SEGMENTS OF THIS LINE.  INFLOW-LAYER
INSTABILITY WILL REMAIN MRGL BUT SUFFICIENT...AND WILL INCREASE
ACROSS PORTIONS CENTRAL/ERN VA INTO DELMARVA REGION.  LOW-LEVEL
THETAE ADVECTION WILL INCREASE MLCAPE TO 100-500 J/KG RANGE AS DEW
POINTS RISE THROUGH 50S...WITH LOW-MID 60S OVER PORTIONS SRN VA.
THIS PROCESS ALSO SHOULD ACT TO REDUCE CINH...ESPECIALLY FOR
STRONGLY FORCED PARCELS ALONG LEADING EDGE OF LINE.

..EDWARDS.. 04/05/2011

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

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

LAT...LON   36588090 37767965 39357720 39487568 38347506 37117587
            36537587 36507934 36127998 36098094 36588090

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 5, 2:18 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCKent, New Castle, Sussex8 hr
Apr 5, 3:34 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCKent, New Castle, Sussex116 min
Apr 5, 5:07 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCecil2 hr
Apr 4, 9:32 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlexander, Buncombe, Burke, Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston and 8 more58 min
Apr 4, 9:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAlexander, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell and 22 more5 hr
Apr 5, 12:21 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Anson, Chatham, Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke and 7 more84 min
Apr 5, 12:36 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAlleghany, Caswell, Rockingham, Stokes, Surry, Wilkes and 1 more111 min
Apr 5, 12:48 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCAlamance, Anson, Bladen, Chatham, Cumberland, Davidson and 27 more5 hr
Apr 5, 2:24 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCabarrus, Mecklenburg, Rowan66 min
Apr 5, 4:00 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCBeaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven and 15 more6 hr
Apr 5, 7:08 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Brunswick, Carteret, Craven, Currituck, Dare and 10 more2 hr
Apr 5, 10:15 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret and 26 more90 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Virginia, 2011Mesoscale Discussions in Maryland, 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.