Alert archive / Iowa / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 147

February 23, 201217 counties in Illinois; 57 counties in Iowa; 12 counties in Wisconsin

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Feb 23, 2012, 8:45 PM CST for 17 counties in Illinois; 57 counties in Iowa; 12 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Feb 23, 2012, 8:45 PM CST (02:45 UTC)
Expired
Feb 24, 2012, 1:45 AM CST
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 86 counties

Adair County, IA, Adams County, IA, Appanoose County, IA, Audubon County, IA, Benton County, IA, Black Hawk County, IA, Boone County, IA, Buchanan County, IA, Cass County, IA, Cedar County, IA, Clarke County, IA, Clayton County, IA, Clinton County, IA, Dallas County, IA, Davis County, IA, Decatur County, IA, Delaware County, IA, Des Moines County, IA, Dubuque County, IA, Fayette County, IA, Greene County, IA, Grundy County, IA, Guthrie County, IA, Hardin County, IA, Henry County, IA, Iowa County, IA, Jackson County, IA, Jasper County, IA, Jefferson County, IA, Johnson County, IA, Jones County, IA, Keokuk County, IA, Linn County, IA, Louisa County, IA, Lucas County, IA, Madison County, IA, Mahaska County, IA, Marion County, IA, Marshall County, IA, Monroe County, IA, Montgomery County, IA, Muscatine County, IA, Page County, IA, Polk County, IA, Pottawattamie County, IA, Poweshiek County, IA, Ringgold County, IA, Scott County, IA, Story County, IA, Tama County, IA, Taylor County, IA, Union County, IA, Van Buren County, IA, Wapello County, IA, Warren County, IA, Washington County, IA, Wayne County, IA, Boone County, IL, Bureau County, IL, Carroll County, IL, DeKalb County, IL, DuPage County, IL, Henry County, IL, Jo Daviess County, IL, Kane County, IL, Lake County, IL, Lee County, IL, McHenry County, IL, Mercer County, IL, Ogle County, IL, Rock Island County, IL, Stephenson County, IL, Whiteside County, IL, Winnebago County, IL, Dane County, WI, Grant County, WI, Green County, WI, Iowa County, WI, Jefferson County, WI, Kenosha County, WI, Lafayette County, WI, Milwaukee County, WI, Racine County, WI, Rock County, WI, Walworth County, WI, Waukesha County, WI

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:45 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 nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 72 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, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 2012-02-24Temperature 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, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 2012-02-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 82 square meters per square second.1939587897117136156Sfc1 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
484 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
70 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
82 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
697 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.

167 
ACUS11 KWNS 240245
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 240245 
ILZ000-WIZ000-IAZ000-MOZ000-240745-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0147
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0845 PM CST THU FEB 23 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...SRN IA...NRN IL...SRN WI

CONCERNING...HEAVY SNOW 

VALID 240245Z - 240745Z

A BAND OF SNOWFALL...ASSOCIATED WITH A NEGATIVELY TILTED SHORTWAVE
TROUGH AND ATTENDANT SFC LOW...WILL RESULT IN BRIEF PERIODS OF MOD
TO HVY SNOW ACROSS THE UPPER MIDWEST.

A NEGATIVELY TILTED SHORTWAVE WILL CONTINUE TO PROGRESS EWD ACROSS
THE MIDWEST DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS. SFC LOW ASSOCIATED WITH THIS
SHORTWAVE IS CURRENTLY CENTERED OVER S IL AND FAR W KY. 850 MB
FRONTOGENESIS AND ITS ASSOCIATED SNOW BAND... CURRENTLY LOCATED
ACROSS SRN IA EWD TO SRN MI...IS EXPECTED TO DRIFT SWD AND WEAKEN
OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS AS THE SHORTWAVE TROUGH AND SFC LOW PROGRESS
EWD. A SATURATED DENDRITIC GROWTH ZONE AND EASTERLY FLOW BTW 925-850
MB SHOULD CONTINUE TO PROMOTE BRIEF PERIODS OF MOD TO HVY SNOW
WITHIN THE BAND. HOWEVER..WEAKENING FRONTOGENESIS WITH TIME WILL
RESULT IN A GRADUAL REDUCTION IN SNOWFALL RATES ACROSS IA. FURTHER
E...THE POTENTIAL FOR HIGHER RATES WILL LINGER FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL
HOURS. ADDITIONALLY...QUICK PROGRESSION OF THE SYSTEM SHOULD LIMIT
OVERALL SNOWFALL TOTALS.

..MOSIER/LEITMAN.. 02/24/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...LOT...ILX...MKX...DVN...ARX...DMX...EAX...OAX...

LAT...LON   43159094 43298921 43178792 42528754 41978763 41748810
            41448918 40889125 40579229 40619522 41249571 41729524
            42239403 42729236 43159094

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Iowa, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Illinois, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Wisconsin, 2012Every mesoscale discussion in 2012

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.