Alert archive / West Virginia / Mesoscale Discussions in 2011

Mesoscale Discussion 985

May 26, 20114 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 26, 2011, 4:30 PM EDT for 4 states. It was in force for 60 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 26, 2011, 4:30 PM EDT (20:30 UTC)
Expired
May 26, 2011, 5:30 PM EDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 62 counties

Pike County, KY, Garrett County, MD, Alleghany County, VA, Bath County, VA, Bland County, VA, Buchanan County, VA, City of Bristol, VA, City of Covington, VA, City of Galax, VA, City of Norton, VA, City of Radford, VA, Craig County, VA, Dickenson County, VA, Giles County, VA, Grayson County, VA, Highland County, VA, Lee County, VA, Montgomery County, VA, Pulaski County, VA, Russell County, VA, Scott County, VA, Smyth County, VA, Tazewell County, VA, Washington County, VA, Wise County, VA, Wythe County, VA, Barbour County, WV, Boone County, WV, Braxton County, WV, Calhoun County, WV, Clay County, WV, Doddridge County, WV, Fayette County, WV, Gilmer County, WV, Grant County, WV, Greenbrier County, WV, Hampshire County, WV, Hardy County, WV, Harrison County, WV, Kanawha County, WV, Lewis County, WV, Logan County, WV, Marion County, WV, McDowell County, WV, Mercer County, WV, Mineral County, WV, Mingo County, WV, Monroe County, WV, Nicholas County, WV, Pendleton County, WV, Pocahontas County, WV, Preston County, WV, Raleigh County, WV, Randolph County, WV, Roane County, WV, Summers County, WV, Taylor County, WV, Tucker County, WV, Upshur County, WV, Webster County, WV, Wetzel County, WV, Wyoming County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 86 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:32 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, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 171 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 2011-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 734 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 12:00Z on 2011-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 2 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
734 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-101 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1098 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
15 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

109 
ACUS11 KWNS 262030
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 262030 
WVZ000-MDZ000-VAZ000-NCZ000-TNZ000-KYZ000-262130-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0985
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0330 PM CDT THU MAY 26 2011

AREAS AFFECTED...WRN VA...WV

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 381...

VALID 262030Z - 262130Z

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 381
CONTINUES.

MOST BUOYANT AND STEEPER LAPSE RATE ENVIRONMENT CONTINUES TO COVER
THE ERN HALF OF WW 381.  THIS IS REFLECTED WELL IN ONGOING
CONVECTION WHERE STRONGEST UPDRAFTS ARE CONCENTRATED COINCIDENT WITH
HIGHER ELEVATIONS.  ALTHOUGH STRONGER FORCING REMAINS JUST WEST OF
THIS REGION OVER THE OH/TN VALLEY REGION...OROGRAPHIC FORCING IS
LIKELY CONTRIBUTING TO RENEWED TSTM DEVELOPMENT WHERE HEATING IS
STRONGEST.  THIS ACTIVITY HAS STRUGGLED TO MOVE OFF THE MOUNTAINS
AND SHOULD PRIMARILY LIFT NNEWD ALONG CORRIDOR OF HIGHEST TERRAIN.

..DARROW.. 05/26/2011

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

ATTN...WFO...LWX...RNK...PBZ...RLX...MRX...JKL...

LAT...LON   39608066 39617823 36558092 36558326 39608066

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 8:14 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBoone, Bourbon, Bracken, Campbell, Carroll, Fleming and 15 more2 hr
May 25, 8:40 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBreckinridge, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Christian, Crittenden and 25 more2 hr
May 25, 9:33 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCAdair, Allen, Anderson, Barren, Boone, Bourbon and 65 more7 hr
May 26, 1:15 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCLetcher, Pike90 min
May 26, 3:09 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Anderson, Bath, Bourbon, Boyle, Bracken and 49 more96 min
May 26, 1:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAllegany, Garrett, Washington11 hr
May 26, 10:15 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCLee, Russell, Scott, Washington, Wise, City of Bristol and 1 more9 hr
May 26, 4:36 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCRussell, Scott, Washington, Wise, City of Bristol, City of Norton84 min
May 26, 5:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCLee, Russell, Scott, Washington, Wise, City of Bristol and 1 more7 hr
May 26, 2:37 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHancock83 min
May 26, 6:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBrooke, Hancock, Marshall, Ohio6 hr

Nearby

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