Alert archive / Maryland / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 1812

August 25, 2012Somerset County, Wicomico County, Worcester County, Maryland; Accomack County, Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Aug 25, 2012, 4:46 PM EDT for Somerset County, Wicomico County, Worcester County, Maryland; Accomack County, Virginia. It was in force for 89 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 25, 2012, 4:46 PM EDT (20:46 UTC)
Expired
Aug 25, 2012, 6:15 PM EDT
In force
89 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
20%

Counties Somerset County, MD, Wicomico County, MD, Worcester County, MD, Accomack County, VA

The radar

The Dover AFB radar (KDOX), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:48 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

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 21 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 2012-08-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 86 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 2012-08-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -37 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
86 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-59 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
860 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-37 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
64 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.

728 
ACUS11 KWNS 252046
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 252046 
DEZ000-MDZ000-VAZ000-252215-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 1812
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0346 PM CDT SAT AUG 25 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...ERN VA THROUGH SRN MD AND EXTREME SRN DE

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH UNLIKELY 

VALID 252046Z - 252215Z

PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...20 PERCENT

SUMMARY...THE THREAT FOR A COUPLE OF ISOLATED TORNADOES IS EXPECTED
TO PERSIST INTO THE EARLY EVENING OVER EXTREME ERN VA INTO SRN MD
AND EXTREME SRN DE. OVERALL THREAT DOES NOT APPEAR SUFFICIENT FOR A
WW AT THIS TIME...AND HEAVY RAIN REMAINS THE PRIMARY CONCERN.

DISCUSSION...SFC LOW HAS DEVELOPED INTO SERN VA IN ASSOCIATION WITH
A SLOW NWD MOVING UPPER LOW CIRCULATION. WARM FRONT EXTENDS NEWD
FROM THE LOW INTO THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AREA. DESPITE CLEARING AND
HEATING OF THE BOUNDARY LAYER IN THE WARM SECTOR...INSTABILITY
REMAINS LIMITED TO AOB 500 J/KG DUE TO POOR MID LEVEL LAPSE
RATES...POSSIBLY EXACERBATED BY WHAT APPEARS TO BE WEAK SUBSIDENCE
IN NWD EXPANDING MID LEVEL DRY SLOT REGION. THE GREATEST POTENTIAL
FOR AN ISOLATED TORNADO SHOULD PERSIST FROM ERN VA INTO SRN MD AND
SRN DE THIS EVENING AS STORMS INTERACT WITH FRONT AND LIFT IS
MAXIMIZED WHERE MOIST INFLOW FROM MODEST SELY LLJ INTERSECTS THIS
QUASI-STATIONARY BOUNDARY. THE ZONE OF STRONGER MESOSCALE ASCENT
WILL SHIFT SLOWLY NWD THROUGH MID EVENING WITH HEAVY RAIN LIKELY
PROMOTED BY 1.5-2 INCH PW AND TRAINING CELLS ALONG WARM CONVEYOR
BELT.

..DIAL/WEISS.. 08/25/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...PHI...AKQ...

LAT...LON   38337509 37707559 37457639 38627554 38337509

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 25, 11:22 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCSomerset, Worcester113 min
Aug 25, 6:12 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAccomack, Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, Mathews, Middlesex and 15 more3 hr

Nearby

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