Alert archive / New York / Mesoscale Discussions in 2011

Mesoscale Discussion 40

January 21, 20115 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Jan 21, 2011, 12:30 AM EST for 5 states. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jan 21, 2011, 12:30 AM EST (05:30 UTC)
Expired
Jan 21, 2011, 5:30 AM EST
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 46 counties

Berkshire County, MA, Bristol County, MA, Essex County, MA, Franklin County, MA, Hampden County, MA, Hampshire County, MA, Middlesex County, MA, Norfolk County, MA, Plymouth County, MA, Suffolk County, MA, Worcester County, MA, Bergen County, NJ, Essex County, NJ, Hudson County, NJ, Hunterdon County, NJ, Morris County, NJ, Passaic County, NJ, Somerset County, NJ, Sussex County, NJ, Union County, NJ, Warren County, NJ, Bronx County, NY, Columbia County, NY, Dutchess County, NY, Greene County, NY, Kings County, NY, Nassau County, NY, New York County, NY, Orange County, NY, Putnam County, NY, Queens County, NY, Richmond County, NY, Rockland County, NY, Sullivan County, NY, Ulster County, NY, Westchester County, NY, Carbon County, PA, Lehigh County, PA, Monroe County, PA, Northampton County, PA, Pike County, PA, Bristol County, RI, Kent County, RI, Newport County, RI, Providence County, RI, Washington County, RI

The radar

The Brookhaven radar (KOKX), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:28 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

Brookhaven, NY (KOKX), launched 00:00Z, 5.5 hours before the alert went out and 71 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, Brookhaven, NY at 00:00Z on 2011-01-21Temperature 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, Brookhaven, NY at 00:00Z on 2011-01-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 51 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
1458 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
74 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
51 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
215 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.

115 
ACUS11 KWNS 210531
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 210530
MAZ000-RIZ000-CTZ000-NYZ000-NJZ000-PAZ000-211030-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0040
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1130 PM CST THU JAN 20 2011

AREAS AFFECTED...PORTIONS OF THE NORTHEAST AND SRN NEW ENGLAND

CONCERNING...HEAVY SNOW

VALID 210530Z - 211030Z

BANDS OF MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW WILL DEVELOP OVERNIGHT ALONG THE
I-84/95 CORRIDORS FROM ERN PA INTO MA. SNOWFALL RATES FROM 1 TO 2
IN/HR SHOULD OCCUR...MOST LIKELY ACROSS PORTIONS OF SRN NEW ENGLAND
AROUND OR JUST AFTER 12Z. ALTHOUGH DURATION OF HEAVY SNOW RATES IN
ANY ONE LOCATION SHOULD REMAIN RELATIVELY SHORT...HIGH TRAVEL IMPACT
ON MORNING RUSH HOUR APPEARS PROBABLE FROM THE NEW YORK CITY TO
BOSTON METRO AREAS.

05Z SURFACE ANALYSIS PLACED A 1004 MB CYCLONE OVER S-CNTRL PA WITH A
QUASI-STATIONARY/WARM FRONT DRAPED EWD TO LONG ISLAND. 00Z MODELS
ARE HIGHLY CONSISTENT WITH THE AMPLIFICATION OF AN UPPER-LEVEL SHORT
WAVE TROUGH /CURRENTLY CROSSING THE ERN GREAT LAKES AND UPPER OH
VALLEY/...RESULTING IN DEEPENING OF THE SURFACE LOW OFF THE NJ/LONG
ISLAND COAST THROUGH 12Z. STRENGTHENING LOWER-LEVEL WAA/ISENTROPIC
LIFT IN CONJUNCTION WITH MID-LEVEL DCVA WILL RESULT IN ROBUST FORCED
ASCENT DEVELOPING FROM ERN PA TO MA. THIS SUPPORTS THE AXIS OF
HIGHEST QPF/QSF DEPICTED IN THE LATEST SREF MEAN...GFS...HRRR...AND
ETA-KF CONTROL RUN OF THE SREF. SNOWFALL RATES WITHIN THIS AXIS
SHOULD REACH 1 IN/HR...WITH RATES NEAR 2 IN/HR INTO PORTIONS OF SRN
NEW ENGLAND TOWARDS 11-14Z.

THE 00Z NAM IS NOT QUITE AS ROBUST WITH INLAND QPF THAN IN PREVIOUS
RUNS WITH GREATER OFFSHORE RAINFALL DEVELOPMENT. IF THIS
OCCURS...SNOWFALL RATES AOA 1 IN/HR MAY BE RESTRICTED TO SRN NEW
ENGLAND WITH MORE MODERATE RATES WWD. HOWEVER...BASED ON RECENT IR
CLOUD-TOP COOLING AND INCREASING RADAR REFLECTIVITY FROM CNTRL MD
INTO ERN PA...SUSPECT THE NAM MAY BE AN OUTLIER WITH RESPECT TO A
PROBABLE BURST OF HEAVY SNOW OVER ERN PA/NRN NJ/SERN NY BETWEEN
07-11Z.

..GRAMS.. 01/21/2011

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

ATTN...WFO...BOX...OKX...ALY...PHI...BGM...

LAT...LON   40397500 40577575 41157576 42057489 42557335 42687158
            42687080 41947056 41497083 41247192 40817314 40457442
            40397500

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 21, 7:32 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCEssex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk5 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in New York, 2011Mesoscale Discussions in Massachusetts, 2011Mesoscale Discussions in New Jersey, 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.