Alert archive / Minnesota / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 1802

August 23, 201215 counties in Minnesota

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Aug 23, 2012, 6:07 PM CDT for 15 counties in Minnesota. It was in force for 53 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 23, 2012, 6:07 PM CDT (23:07 UTC)
Expired
Aug 23, 2012, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
53 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
20%

Counties Blue Earth County, MN, Brown County, MN, Cottonwood County, MN, Jackson County, MN, Lyon County, MN, Martin County, MN, Murray County, MN, Nicollet County, MN, Nobles County, MN, Pipestone County, MN, Redwood County, MN, Renville County, MN, Rock County, MN, Sibley County, MN, Watonwan County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 136 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:09 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

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 134 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2012-08-23Temperature 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2012-08-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 78 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2118 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
78 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
158 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.

180 
ACUS11 KWNS 232307
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 232307 
MNZ000-SDZ000-240000-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 1802
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0607 PM CDT THU AUG 23 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...SWRN MN...

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH UNLIKELY 

VALID 232307Z - 240000Z

PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...20 PERCENT

SUMMARY...AN ISOLATED THREAT FOR HAIL AND PERHAPS A STRONG WIND GUST
IS EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT COUPLE HRS...BUT IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN
TOO MARGINAL/LOCALIZED TO WARRANT A WW. WITH THE LOSS OF DIURNAL
HEATING AND RESULTANT WEAKENING OF INSTABILITY...THE THREAT SHOULD
WANE LATER THIS EVENING.

DISCUSSION...A FOCUSED AREA OF FESTERING TSTMS HAS BEEN ONGOING OVER
THE PAST COUPLE HRS...ALONG/NEAR A WEAK BAROCLINIC ZONE AND SFC LOW.
MORE RECENT DEVELOPMENT HAS BEEN NOTED IN VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY
WITH A TOWERING CU FIELD EXTENDING FARTHER S/SWD ALONG A SFC TROUGH.
SFC OBSERVATIONS INDICATE LOW-LEVEL CONVERGENCE IS RATHER WEAK...BUT
SOME ENHANCEMENT OF VERTICAL MOTION MAY BE OCCURRING IN CONJUNCTION
WITH THE SRN EXTENSION OF A SHORTWAVE UPPER TROUGH TRAVERSING EWD
NEAR THE MN/CANADA BORDER. A NARROW MOISTURE PLUME IS EXTENDING FROM
THE SRN/CNTRL PLAINS...WITH THE AXIS POSITIONED OVER SWRN MN. THIS
SHOULD PROVIDE A FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR TSTMS TO PERSIST OVER THE
NEXT COUPLE HRS...BUT ANY SUBSTANTIAL ORGANIZATION WILL BE LIMITED
BY MODEST AND WEAKLY VEERING DEEP-LAYER FLOW. AN ACCOMPANYING HAIL
AND PERHAPS ISOLATED STRONG WIND GUST THREAT COULD EXIST WITHIN THE
STRONGEST STORMS...GIVEN ESTIMATED MLCAPE VALUES OF 1500-2000 J/KG.
THE THREAT SHOULD GRADUALLY WANE AFTER SUNSET WITH THE LOSS OF
DIABATIC HEATING.

..ROGERS/WEISS.. 08/23/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...MPX...FSD...

LAT...LON   44379374 43739405 43569502 43589594 43689648 44009647
            44579611 44749535 44789443 44729384 44379374

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Minnesota, 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.