Alert archive / North Carolina / Mesoscale Discussions in 2011

Mesoscale Discussion 421

April 12, 201127 counties in North Carolina; 9 counties in South Carolina; Carter County, Unicoi County, Tennessee

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Apr 12, 2011, 2:39 AM EDT for 27 counties in North Carolina; 9 counties in South Carolina; Carter County, Unicoi County, Tennessee. It was in force for 36 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 12, 2011, 2:39 AM EDT (06:39 UTC)
Expired
Apr 12, 2011, 3:15 AM EDT
In force
36 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 38 counties

Alexander County, NC, Alleghany County, NC, Ashe County, NC, Avery County, NC, Buncombe County, NC, Burke County, NC, Caldwell County, NC, Catawba County, NC, Cleveland County, NC, Davie County, NC, Gaston County, NC, Haywood County, NC, Henderson County, NC, Iredell County, NC, Jackson County, NC, Lincoln County, NC, Madison County, NC, McDowell County, NC, Mitchell County, NC, Polk County, NC, Rutherford County, NC, Swain County, NC, Transylvania County, NC, Watauga County, NC, Wilkes County, NC, Yadkin County, NC, Yancey County, NC, Anderson County, SC, Cherokee County, SC, Greenville County, SC, Laurens County, SC, Oconee County, SC, Pickens County, SC, Spartanburg County, SC, Union County, SC, York County, SC, Carter County, TN, Unicoi County, TN

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 41 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:43 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 6.7 hours before the alert went out and 220 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 2011-04-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 682 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 2011-04-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 113 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
682 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-106 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1647 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
113 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
94 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

359 
ACUS11 KWNS 120639
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 120639 
NCZ000-SCZ000-TNZ000-GAZ000-120715-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0421
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0139 AM CDT TUE APR 12 2011

AREAS AFFECTED...FAR ERN TN...WRN NC...UPSTATE SC...EXTREME NERN GA

CONCERNING...TORNADO WATCH 132...

VALID 120639Z - 120715Z

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR TORNADO WATCH 132 CONTINUES.

...SEVERE THREATS HAVE DIMINISHED...

TORNADO WATCH 132 EXPIRES AT 07Z AND THERE ARE NO PLANS TO ISSUE A
NEW WATCH.

BAND OF TSTMS DIMINISHED AS IT CROSSED THE APPALACHIAN CREST AND
INSPECTION OF DOWNSTREAM RUC SOUNDINGS IN THE FOOTHILLS OF NC/SC
EXHIBIT A WARM LAYER ALOFT AND LITTLE BUOYANCY.  AS A RESULT...THERE
IS NO REASON TO BELIEVE THAT STORMS WILL INCREASE IN INTENSITY FOR
THE REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT.

..RACY.. 04/12/2011

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

ATTN...WFO...RAH...RNK...GSP...MRX...

LAT...LON   34578316 35498355 36178284 36568123 36238034 35438066
            34858123 34248223 34278269 34578316

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 11, 8:08 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCAvery, Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood and 8 more7 hr
Apr 11, 9:23 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBuncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson and 7 more97 min
Apr 12, 1:56 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCamden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Pasquotank, Perquimans64 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in North Carolina, 2011Mesoscale Discussions in South Carolina, 2011Mesoscale Discussions in Tennessee, 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.