Alert archive / Virginia / Mesoscale Discussions in 2011

Mesoscale Discussion 920

May 24, 20115 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 24, 2011, 8:34 AM EDT for 5 states. It was in force for 116 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 24, 2011, 8:34 AM EDT (12:34 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 2011, 10:30 AM EDT
In force
116 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 114 counties

Bell County, KY, Breathitt County, KY, Clay County, KY, Floyd County, KY, Harlan County, KY, Jackson County, KY, Knott County, KY, Knox County, KY, Laurel County, KY, Leslie County, KY, Letcher County, KY, Magoffin County, KY, Martin County, KY, McCreary County, KY, Owsley County, KY, Perry County, KY, Pike County, KY, Wayne County, KY, Whitley County, KY, Alamance County, NC, Alexander County, NC, Alleghany County, NC, Ashe County, NC, Avery County, NC, Caldwell County, NC, Caswell County, NC, Davie County, NC, Forsyth County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Madison County, NC, Mitchell County, NC, Rockingham County, NC, Stokes County, NC, Surry County, NC, Watauga County, NC, Wilkes County, NC, Yadkin County, NC, Yancey County, NC, Anderson County, TN, Bledsoe County, TN, Blount County, TN, Campbell County, TN, Carter County, TN, Claiborne County, TN, Cocke County, TN, Cumberland County, TN, Fentress County, TN, Grainger County, TN, Greene County, TN, Hamblen County, TN, Hancock County, TN, Hawkins County, TN, Jefferson County, TN, Johnson County, TN, Knox County, TN, Loudon County, TN, Morgan County, TN, Pickett County, TN, Rhea County, TN, Roane County, TN, Scott County, TN, Sevier County, TN, Sullivan County, TN, Unicoi County, TN, Union County, TN, Van Buren County, TN, Washington County, TN, Alleghany County, VA, Bedford County, VA, Bland County, VA, Botetourt County, VA, Buchanan County, VA, Carroll County, VA, City of Bristol, VA, City of Buena Vista, VA, City of Covington, VA, City of Danville, VA, City of Galax, VA, City of Lexington, VA, City of Martinsville, VA, City of Norton, VA, City of Radford, VA, City of Roanoke, VA, City of Salem, VA, Craig County, VA, Dickenson County, VA, Floyd County, VA, Franklin County, VA, Giles County, VA, Grayson County, VA, Henry County, VA, Lee County, VA, Montgomery County, VA, Patrick County, VA, Pittsylvania County, VA, Pulaski County, VA, Roanoke County, VA, Rockbridge County, VA, Russell County, VA, Scott County, VA, Smyth County, VA, Tazewell County, VA, Washington County, VA, Wise County, VA, Wythe County, VA, Greenbrier County, WV, Logan County, WV, McDowell County, WV, Mercer County, WV, Mingo County, WV, Monroe County, WV, Raleigh County, WV, Summers County, WV, Wyoming County, WV

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 64 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:38 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 297 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 12:00Z on 2011-05-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 451 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 12:00Z on 2011-05-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 4 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
451 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-124 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1350 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
99 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

428 
ACUS11 KWNS 241234
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 241234 
VAZ000-NCZ000-WVZ000-TNZ000-KYZ000-241430-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0920
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0734 AM CDT TUE MAY 24 2011

AREAS AFFECTED...MIDDLE/EASTERN TN AND SOUTHERN/EASTERN KY TO
SOUTHERN WV AND VA/NORTHERN NC

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 352...

VALID 241234Z - 241430Z

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 352
CONTINUES.

SEVERE TSTM WATCH 352 CONTINUES UNTIL 18Z...WITH A RISK OF SEVERE
HAIL AND AN INCREASING POTENTIAL FOR DAMAGING WINDS THROUGH MID/LATE
MORNING. CURRENT THINKING IS THAN AN ADDITIONAL WATCH WILL LIKELY BE
NEEDED THIS MORNING FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN WV AND VA/NORTHERN NC.

A FORWARD PROPAGATING TSTM CLUSTER/MCS CONTINUES TO STEADILY
PROGRESS EAST-NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS NORTHERN TN/SOUTHEAST KY EARLY
THIS MORNING...AND ADDITIONAL UPSCALE GROWTH/EXPANSION OF THIS MCS
SEEMS LIKELY THIS MORNING. SEVERE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL
REMAIN A CONCERN...WITH THE DAMAGING WIND POTENTIAL EXPECTED TO ONLY
BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD THIS MORNING INTO A QUICKLY
HEATING/DESTABILIZING BOUNDARY LAYER. ALONG THESE LINES...A MEASURED
42 KT WIND GUST WAS RECENTLY NOTED AT MONTICELLO/EKQ IN KY. 

CURRENT THINKING IS THAT AN ADDITIONAL SEVERE TSTM WATCH WILL LIKELY
BE NEEDED FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN WV AND WESTERN/SOUTHERN VA AND
NORTHERN NC THIS MORNING...WHERE 12Z OBSERVED SOUNDINGS REFLECT
STEEP LAPSE RATES ALOFT/POTENTIAL FOR AMPLE HEATING COINCIDENT WITH
A BELT OF MODERATE WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT.

..GUYER.. 05/24/2011

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

ATTN...WFO...LWX...RAH...RNK...RLX...GSP...MRX...JKL...LMK...
OHX...

LAT...LON   35478564 36728501 37458404 37798307 38037917 35977929
            35478564

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 23, 8:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBath, Boyd, Carter, Elliott, Fleming, Greenup and 6 more3 hr
May 23, 8:47 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Allen, Barren, Butler, Caldwell, Christian and 21 more58 min
May 24, 6:24 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Allen, Barren, Bell, Casey, Clay and 18 more96 min
May 24, 7:01 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdair, Allen, Barren, Bell, Breathitt, Casey and 38 more8 hr
May 24, 12:55 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Allen, Barren, Bell, Clay, Clinton and 15 more65 min
May 24, 1:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdair, Allen, Barren, Bell, Clay, Clinton and 14 more6 hr
May 24, 3:33 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHarlan87 min
May 24, 4:27 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBell, Harlan, Letcher, Whitley63 min
May 24, 10:00 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAlleghany, Ashe, Caswell, Rockingham, Stokes, Surry and 3 more7 hr
May 24, 12:15 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Bertie, Camden, Caswell, Chowan, Durham and 24 more90 min
May 24, 12:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAlamance, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Durham and 20 more5 hr
May 24, 4:43 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCAlamance, Alleghany, Ashe, Caswell, Forsyth, Guilford and 8 more5 hr
May 24, 7:33 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Alleghany, Ashe, Caswell, Durham, Forsyth and 11 more57 min
May 24, 7:46 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Bledsoe, Blount, Campbell, Carter, Claiborne and 26 more59 min
May 23, 8:07 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrooke, Hancock83 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Virginia, 2011Mesoscale Discussions in Tennessee, 2011Mesoscale Discussions in Kentucky, 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.