Alert archive / Montana / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 1634

July 28, 20124 counties in Montana

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Jul 28, 2012, 1:56 PM MDT for 4 counties in Montana. It was in force for 64 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 28, 2012, 1:56 PM MDT (19:56 UTC)
Expired
Jul 28, 2012, 3:00 PM MDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
20%

Counties Hill County, MT, Liberty County, MT, Pondera County, MT, Toole County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 115 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:56 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

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 108 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, Great_falls, MT at 12:00Z on 2012-07-28Temperature 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, Great_falls, MT at 12:00Z on 2012-07-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 111 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2277 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
111 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
130 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.

409 
ACUS11 KWNS 281956
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 281956 
MTZ000-282100-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 1634
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0256 PM CDT SAT JUL 28 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...PORTIONS NWRN/N-CNTRL MT

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH UNLIKELY 

VALID 281956Z - 282100Z

PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...20 PERCENT

SUMMARY...ISOLATED STRONG-SVR TSTMS DEVELOPING IN THE IMMEDIATE LEE
OF THE ROCKIES OF NWRN MT MAY POSE A THREAT FOR DMGG WINDS/HAIL WITH
EWD PROGRESSION OVER THE HIGH PLAINS. SPARSE COVERAGE OF THE THREAT
SHOULD PRECLUDE THE NEED FOR WW.

DISCUSSION...ISOLATED TSTMS HAVE DEVELOPED NEAR A WEAK STATIONARY
BOUNDARY POSITIONED W-E OVER PONDERA/LIBERTY COUNTIES MT...WITH
UPWARD VERTICAL MOTION LIKELY ENHANCED BY GLANCING INFLUENCE OF A
SHORTWAVE UPPER TROUGH MOVING ACROSS ALBERTA. STRONG DIABATIC
HEATING HAS OCCURRED OVER THE HIGH PLAINS BENEATH STEEP MIDLEVEL
LAPSE RATES...RESULTING IN MLCAPE VALUES NEAR 1000 J/KG...DESPITE
MODEST BOUNDARY LAYER MOISTURE /E.G. SFC DEW POINTS IN THE 40S TO
NEAR 50 F/. MODERATELY STRONG MIDLEVEL FLOW /SAMPLED AT 30-40 MPH
PER 12Z RAOBS/ ATOP GRADUALLY VEERING LOW-LEVEL WINDS WILL BE
SUFFICIENT FOR SMALL MULTICELL CLUSTERS OR A FEW
SUPERCELLS...CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL. ADDITIONALLY...A
LOCALIZED DMGG WIND THREAT MAY ACCOMPANY THESE STORMS GIVEN THE
PRESENCE OF STEEP LOW-LEVEL LAPSE RATES WITHIN A DEEP/WELL-MIXED
BOUNDARY LAYER.

..ROGERS/CORFIDI.. 07/28/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...TFX...

LAT...LON   48970925 48460929 48010933 47911134 47871240 48191285
            48971284 48970925

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 28, 2:37 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaverhead, Broadwater, Carbon, Deer Lodge, Gallatin, Golden Valley and 9 more53 min
Jul 28, 2:56 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDaniels, Richland, Roosevelt, Sheridan64 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Montana, 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.