Alert archive / Virginia / Mesoscale Discussions in 2011

Mesoscale Discussion 649

April 28, 20114 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Apr 28, 2011, 12:27 AM EDT for 4 states. It was in force for 63 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 28, 2011, 12:27 AM EDT (04:27 UTC)
Expired
Apr 28, 2011, 1:30 AM EDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 108 counties

Allegany County, MD, Frederick County, MD, Howard County, MD, Montgomery County, MD, Washington County, MD, Alamance County, NC, Alleghany County, NC, Ashe County, NC, Caswell County, NC, Davidson County, NC, Davie County, NC, Forsyth County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Orange County, NC, Person County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Rockingham County, NC, Stokes County, NC, Surry County, NC, Watauga County, NC, Wilkes County, NC, Yadkin County, NC, Albemarle County, VA, Alleghany County, VA, Amherst County, VA, Appomattox County, VA, Arlington County, VA, Augusta County, VA, Bath County, VA, Bedford County, VA, Bland County, VA, Botetourt County, VA, Buckingham County, VA, Campbell County, VA, Carroll County, VA, Charlotte County, VA, City of Buena Vista, VA, City of Charlottesville, VA, City of Covington, VA, City of Danville, VA, City of Fairfax, VA, City of Falls Church, VA, City of Galax, VA, City of Harrisonburg, VA, City of Lexington, VA, City of Lynchburg, VA, City of Manassas, VA, City of Manassas Park, VA, City of Martinsville, VA, City of Radford, VA, City of Roanoke, VA, City of Salem, VA, City of Staunton, VA, City of Waynesboro, VA, City of Winchester, VA, Clarke County, VA, Craig County, VA, Culpeper County, VA, Cumberland County, VA, Fairfax County, VA, Fauquier County, VA, Floyd County, VA, Fluvanna County, VA, Franklin County, VA, Frederick County, VA, Giles County, VA, Goochland County, VA, Grayson County, VA, Greene County, VA, Halifax County, VA, Henry County, VA, Highland County, VA, Loudoun County, VA, Louisa County, VA, Madison County, VA, Montgomery County, VA, Nelson County, VA, Orange County, VA, Page County, VA, Patrick County, VA, Pittsylvania County, VA, Prince Edward County, VA, Prince William County, VA, Pulaski County, VA, Rappahannock County, VA, Roanoke County, VA, Rockbridge County, VA, Rockingham County, VA, Shenandoah County, VA, Spotsylvania County, VA, Stafford County, VA, Warren County, VA, Wythe County, VA, Berkeley County, WV, Grant County, WV, Greenbrier County, WV, Hampshire County, WV, Hardy County, WV, Jefferson County, WV, Mercer County, WV, Mineral County, WV, Monroe County, WV, Morgan County, WV, Pendleton County, WV, Pocahontas County, WV, Randolph County, WV, Summers County, WV, Tucker County, WV

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 151 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:28 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 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, 4.5 hours before the alert went out and 114 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 2011-04-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 372 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 2011-04-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 226 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
372 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-24 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1272 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
226 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
335 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
3.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

624 
ACUS11 KWNS 280427
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 280427 
MDZ000-DCZ000-VAZ000-WVZ000-NCZ000-280530-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0649
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1127 PM CDT WED APR 27 2011

AREAS AFFECTED...WRN/CNTRL VA...ERN WV...WRN MD...NWRN NC

CONCERNING...TORNADO WATCH 240...

VALID 280427Z - 280530Z

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR TORNADO WATCH 240 CONTINUES.

TORNADO WATCH 240 IS SCHEDULED TO EXPIRE AT 06Z AND WILL BE
REDEFINED SOON WITH A REPLACEMENT WW.

NUMEROUS ROTATING STORMS PERSIST WITHIN A LARGER CONVECTIVE COMPLEX
ACROSS THE CNTRL APPALACHIANS FROM THE MD PANHANDLE ACROSS ERN WV
INTO SWRN VA. LATEST OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS INDICATES DOWNSTREAM AIR
MASS REMAINS MODERATELY UNSTABLE WITH UPPER 60S TO LOWER 70S SURFACE
DEW POINTS COMMON ACROSS THE PIEDMONT. GIVEN PRESENCE OF EXTREME
LOW-LEVEL SHEAR...0-1 KM SRH AROUND 500 M2/S2 SAMPLED BY LWX/FCX VWP
DATA...ATTENDANT THREATS FOR TORNADOES AND DAMAGING WINDS/LARGE HAIL
WILL LIKELY PERSIST BEYOND 06Z WW EXPIRATION.

..GRAMS.. 04/28/2011

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

ATTN...WFO...AKQ...LWX...RAH...RNK...PBZ...RLX...GSP...

LAT...LON   38477738 35937907 35457995 36168176 37678099 39597910
            39717770 39517700 39197686 38477738

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 27, 8:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCaroline, Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot8 hr
Apr 28, 12:41 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCAllegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Charles and 8 more7 hr
Apr 28, 4:05 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCaroline, Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot6 hr
Apr 28, 7:38 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCAnne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Charles, Dorchester and 10 more7 hr
Apr 28, 9:45 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCaroline, Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot6 hr
Apr 28, 10:44 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil and 13 more61 min
Apr 28, 11:49 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCecil, Kent, Queen Anne's56 min
Apr 28, 2:00 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnne Arundel, Calvert, Caroline, Charles, Dorchester, Kent and 7 more60 min
Apr 28, 2:41 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCDorchester, Somerset, Wicomico, Worcester6 hr
Apr 28, 6:33 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDorchester, Saint Mary's, Somerset, Wicomico, Worcester57 min
Apr 27, 10:12 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlleghany, Ashe, Forsyth, Rockingham, Stokes, Surry and 3 more63 min
Apr 28, 12:09 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke and 25 more36 min
Apr 28, 12:56 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCAlexander, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell and 21 more4 hr
Apr 28, 3:30 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlexander, Anson, Burke, Cabarrus, Catawba, Cleveland and 10 more90 min
Apr 28, 4:30 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCAlamance, Anson, Bladen, Chatham, Cumberland, Davidson and 27 more10 hr
Apr 28, 8:05 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnson, Chatham, Cumberland, Durham, Edgecombe, Franklin and 15 more85 min
Apr 28, 8:48 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCBeaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven and 15 more7 hr
Apr 28, 11:22 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Chowan, Columbus and 29 more53 min
Apr 28, 3:19 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCBladen, Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, Pender4 hr
Apr 27, 9:22 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBuchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth and 5 more53 min
Apr 28, 12:34 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBuchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Tazewell and 3 more26 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Virginia, 2011Mesoscale Discussions in North Carolina, 2011Mesoscale Discussions in West Virginia, 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.