Alert archive / Virginia / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 1565

July 24, 20125 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Jul 24, 2012, 11:48 AM EDT for 5 states. It was in force for 87 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 24, 2012, 11:48 AM EDT (15:48 UTC)
Expired
Jul 24, 2012, 1:15 PM EDT
In force
87 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
80%
All 91 counties

Allegany County, MD, 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, Garrett 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, Belmont County, OH, Carroll County, OH, Columbiana County, OH, Harrison County, OH, Jefferson County, OH, Stark County, OH, Adams County, PA, Allegheny County, PA, Armstrong County, PA, Beaver County, PA, Bedford County, PA, Blair County, PA, Butler County, PA, Cambria County, PA, Cumberland County, PA, Fayette County, PA, Franklin County, PA, Fulton County, PA, Greene County, PA, Huntingdon County, PA, Indiana County, PA, Somerset County, PA, Washington County, PA, Westmoreland County, PA, York County, PA, Arlington County, VA, City of Alexandria, VA, City of Fairfax, VA, City of Falls Church, VA, City of Fredericksburg, VA, City of Harrisonburg, VA, City of Manassas, VA, City of Manassas Park, VA, City of Winchester, VA, Clarke County, VA, Culpeper County, VA, Fairfax County, VA, Fauquier County, VA, Frederick County, VA, Greene County, VA, King George County, VA, Loudoun County, VA, Madison County, VA, Orange County, VA, Page County, VA, Prince William County, VA, Rappahannock County, VA, Rockingham County, VA, Shenandoah County, VA, Spotsylvania County, VA, Stafford County, VA, Warren County, VA, Westmoreland County, VA, Berkeley County, WV, Brooke County, WV, Grant County, WV, Hampshire County, WV, Hancock County, WV, Hardy County, WV, Jefferson County, WV, Marion County, WV, Marshall County, WV, Mineral County, WV, Monongalia County, WV, Morgan County, WV, Ohio County, WV, Preston County, WV, Taylor County, WV, Tucker County, WV, Wetzel County, WV

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 119 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:50 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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 127 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2012-07-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1981 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2012-07-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 210 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1981 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-91 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1090 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
210 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
209 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

368 
ACUS11 KWNS 241548
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 241548 
DEZ000-MDZ000-PAZ000-VAZ000-DCZ000-WVZ000-OHZ000-241715-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 1565
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1048 AM CDT TUE JUL 24 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...ERN OH...WRN AND SRN PA...NRN VA...MD...ERN WV

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH LIKELY 

VALID 241548Z - 241715Z

PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...80 PERCENT

SUMMARY...STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY
AND A WATCH MAY BE NEEDED SOON.

DISCUSSION...DESTABILIZATION CONTINUES ACROSS THE REGION WITH
POCKETS OF HEATING AND MIXING. EARLY CELLS CROSSING FROM SWRN PA
INTO MD DID NOT PERSIST...BUT CIN WILL CONTINUE TO DECREASE...AND
DEEP LAYER SHEAR IS FAVORABLE FOR SUPERCELLS TO FORM WHICH COULD
TRACK FOR LONG DISTANCES ONCE DEVELOPED. THE CELL OVER FAR WRN MD
APPEARS TO BE BECOMING BETTER ORGANIZED WITH A HAIL THREAT.

OTHER CU OF INTEREST WERE ACROSS NERN OH NEAR THE COLD FRONT.
ADDITIONAL CELLS MAY FORM HERE AND TRACK SEWD WITH A HAIL AND WIND
THREAT.

..JEWELL/HART.. 07/24/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...PHI...AKQ...CTP...LWX...PBZ...RLX...CLE...

LAT...LON   40918153 40978070 40937913 40457758 39497572 38817567
            38427582 38087643 38007692 38207797 38377885 38727932
            39508052 39568061 40058119 40918153

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 24, 1:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAllegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Caroline, Carroll and 17 more6 hr
Jul 24, 1:42 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCalvert, Dorchester, Saint Mary's, Somerset, Wicomico, Worcester2 hr
Jul 24, 10:08 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAuglaize, Butler, Champaign, Clark, Clinton, Darke and 14 more97 min
Jul 24, 10:35 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdams, Brown, Butler, Clark, Clermont, Clinton and 12 more3 hr
Jul 24, 11:59 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Fayette and 8 more61 min
Jul 24, 12:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCGallia, Jackson, Lawrence6 hr
Jul 24, 1:52 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCLawrence, Scioto53 min
Jul 24, 11:43 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBuchanan, Dickenson, Wise, City of Norton62 min
Jul 24, 3:25 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBuchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth and 5 more95 min
Jul 24, 3:46 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAccomack, Brunswick, Charles City, Dinwiddie, Gloucester, Greensville and 28 more89 min
Jul 24, 4:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAccomack, Brunswick, Dinwiddie, Gloucester, Greensville, Isle of Wight and 20 more4 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Virginia, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Maryland, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Pennsylvania, 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.