Alert archive / Oklahoma / Mesoscale Discussions in 2011

Mesoscale Discussion 810

May 19, 201118 counties in Oklahoma; 10 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 19, 2011, 12:30 PM CDT for 18 counties in Oklahoma; 10 counties in Texas. It was in force for 30 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 19, 2011, 12:30 PM CDT (17:30 UTC)
Expired
May 19, 2011, 1:00 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 28 counties

Beckham County, OK, Blaine County, OK, Caddo County, OK, Comanche County, OK, Custer County, OK, Dewey County, OK, Ellis County, OK, Greer County, OK, Harmon County, OK, Harper County, OK, Jackson County, OK, Kiowa County, OK, Major County, OK, Roger Mills County, OK, Tillman County, OK, Washita County, OK, Woods County, OK, Woodward County, OK, Archer County, TX, Baylor County, TX, Childress County, TX, Cottle County, TX, Foard County, TX, Hardeman County, TX, King County, TX, Knox County, TX, Wichita County, TX, Wilbarger County, TX

The radar

The Altus AFB radar (KFDR), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:34 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

Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 12:00Z, 5.5 hours before the alert went out and 193 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, Norman, OK at 12:00Z on 2011-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1483 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, Norman, OK at 12:00Z on 2011-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 219 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1483 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-94 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
616 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
219 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
186 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
2.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

603 
ACUS11 KWNS 191730
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 191730 
TXZ000-OKZ000-KSZ000-191800-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0810
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1230 PM CDT THU MAY 19 2011

AREAS AFFECTED...NWRN TX AND WRN OK

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...TORNADO WATCH LIKELY 

VALID 191730Z - 191800Z

A TORNADO WATCH WILL BE COORDINATED SOON FOR PARTS OF NWRN TX
THROUGH WRN OK.

EARLY AFTERNOON SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWED AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER
WEST CENTRAL KS WITH A DRY LINE EXTENDING SWD ALONG AND INVOF THE
WRN OK/TX PANHANDLE BORDER AND THEN THROUGH CDS TO WEST CENTRAL TX. 
ONGOING STRONG SURFACE HEATING ALONG AND WEST OF THE DRY LINE
COMBINED WITH AN ENHANCED AREA OF LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE FROM KING TO
CHILDRESS COUNTIES TX ARE SUPPORTING DEEPER CU DEVELOPMENT.  

OBJECTIVE ANALYSES INDICATED THE ENVIRONMENT ALONG THE DRY LINE NWD
INTO SOUTH CENTRAL KS IS UNCAPPED WITH MLCAPE OF 2000-3000 J/KG. 
THIS COMBINED WITH STEEP LAPSE RATES AND EFFECTIVE BULK SHEAR OF
35-50 KT WILL SUPPORT SUPERCELLS.  GIVEN EXPECTED BACKING OF
MID-UPPER LEVEL WINDS...STORM MOTION SHOULD BE TOWARD THE NNE WITH
TORNADOES BECOMING LIKELY AS CELLS MOVE INTO CORRIDOR OF GREATER LOW
LEVEL MOISTURE AND HIGHER VALUES OF EFFECTIVE SRH LOCATED ALONG AND
E OF THE DRY LINE.

..PETERS.. 05/19/2011

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

ATTN...WFO...OUN...DDC...LUB...AMA...

LAT...LON   33420043 34680020 35900021 37020018 37009949 36979837
            35859830 33589841 33409917 33420043

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 19, 12:46 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAlfalfa, Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland and 28 more9 hr
May 19, 3:44 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlfalfa, Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Comanche and 16 more61 min
May 19, 5:21 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlfalfa, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland, Comanche and 18 more84 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Oklahoma, 2011Mesoscale Discussions in Texas, 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.