Alert archive / Virginia / Mesoscale Discussions in 2011

Mesoscale Discussion 660

April 28, 20115 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Apr 28, 2011, 10:44 AM EDT for 5 states. It was in force for 61 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 28, 2011, 10:44 AM EDT (14:44 UTC)
Expired
Apr 28, 2011, 11:45 AM EDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 99 counties

Kent County, DE, New Castle County, DE, Anne Arundel County, MD, Baltimore County, MD, Calvert County, MD, Caroline County, MD, Carroll County, MD, Cecil County, MD, Charles County, MD, City of Baltimore, MD, Dorchester County, MD, Frederick County, MD, Harford 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, Talbot County, MD, Washington County, MD, Salem County, NJ, Albemarle County, VA, Amelia County, VA, Amherst County, VA, Appomattox County, VA, Arlington County, VA, Bedford County, VA, Brunswick County, VA, Buckingham County, VA, Campbell County, VA, Caroline County, VA, Charles City County, VA, Charlotte County, VA, Chesterfield County, VA, City of Alexandria, VA, City of Charlottesville, 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 Fredericksburg, VA, City of Hopewell, VA, City of Lynchburg, VA, City of Manassas, VA, City of Manassas Park, VA, City of Martinsville, VA, City of Petersburg, VA, City of Richmond, VA, City of Waynesboro, VA, City of Winchester, VA, Clarke County, VA, Culpeper County, VA, Cumberland County, VA, Dinwiddie County, VA, Essex County, VA, Fairfax County, VA, Fauquier County, VA, Fluvanna County, VA, Goochland County, VA, Greene County, VA, Greensville County, VA, Halifax County, VA, Hanover County, VA, Henrico County, VA, Henry County, VA, James City County, VA, King and Queen County, VA, King George County, VA, King William County, VA, Lancaster County, VA, Loudoun County, VA, Louisa County, VA, Lunenburg County, VA, Madison County, VA, Mecklenburg County, VA, Middlesex County, VA, Nelson County, VA, New Kent County, VA, Northumberland County, VA, Nottoway County, VA, Orange County, VA, Page 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, Spotsylvania County, VA, Stafford County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, Warren County, VA, Westmoreland County, VA, Berkeley County, WV, Jefferson County, WV

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 130 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:47 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 12:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 141 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 12:00Z on 2011-04-28Temperature 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 12:00Z on 2011-04-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -166 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
911 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
81 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-166 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
43 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

867 
ACUS11 KWNS 281445
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 281444
NJZ000-DEZ000-MDZ000-VAZ000-DCZ000-WVZ000-NCZ000-281545-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0660
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0944 AM CDT THU APR 28 2011

AREAS AFFECTED...THE DELMARVA INTO SRN VA

CONCERNING...TORNADO WATCH 251...

VALID 281444Z - 281545Z

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR TORNADO WATCH 251 CONTINUES.

A NARROW AXIS OF MODERATE INSTABILITY CURRENTLY EXTENDS NWD ACROSS
ERN VA TOWARD THE DELMARVA.  THIS AIRMASS IS SUFFICIENTLY SHEARED
FOR MAINTAINING THE ONGOING SEVERE BAND OF FRONTAL CONVECTION AS IT
PROPAGATES TOWARD THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC COAST.  LATEST RADAR DATA
SUGGEST FASTER-MOVING LINE SEGMENTS AND BOW-TYPE STRUCTURES HAVE
EVOLVED OVER CNTRL VA AND THIS ACTIVITY COULD PRODUCE VERY DAMAGING
WINDS AS IT SPREADS TOWARD THE TIDEWATER REGION.

..DARROW.. 04/28/2011

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

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

LAT...LON   36548015 39647791 39647491 36567726 36548015

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 27, 8:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCKent, New Castle, Sussex8 hr
Apr 28, 4:05 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCKent, New Castle, Sussex6 hr
Apr 28, 6:21 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCKent, New Castle54 min
Apr 28, 9:45 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCKent, New Castle, Sussex6 hr
Apr 28, 11:49 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCKent, New Castle56 min
Apr 28, 2:00 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCKent, Sussex60 min
Apr 28, 12:27 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllegany, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery, Washington63 min
Apr 28, 12:41 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCAllegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Charles and 8 more7 hr
Apr 28, 7:38 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCAnne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Charles, Dorchester and 10 more7 hr
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 28, 3:32 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHunterdon, Sussex, Warren28 min
Apr 27, 9:22 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBuchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth and 5 more53 min
Apr 27, 10:12 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlbemarle, Alleghany, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Arlington and 68 more63 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 Maryland, 2011Mesoscale Discussions in Delaware, 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.