Alert archive / Illinois / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 1849

September 1, 201242 counties in Illinois

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Sep 1, 2012, 12:41 PM CDT for 42 counties in Illinois. It was in force for 64 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 1, 2012, 12:41 PM CDT (17:41 UTC)
Expired
Sep 1, 2012, 1:45 PM CDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
95%
All 42 counties

Bond County, IL, Cass County, IL, Champaign County, IL, Christian County, IL, Clay County, IL, Clinton County, IL, Coles County, IL, Cumberland County, IL, DeWitt County, IL, Douglas County, IL, Effingham County, IL, Fayette County, IL, Franklin County, IL, Fulton County, IL, Hamilton County, IL, Jackson County, IL, Jasper County, IL, Jefferson County, IL, Knox County, IL, Logan County, IL, Macon County, IL, Macoupin County, IL, Marion County, IL, Marshall County, IL, Mason County, IL, McLean County, IL, Menard County, IL, Montgomery County, IL, Morgan County, IL, Moultrie County, IL, Peoria County, IL, Perry County, IL, Piatt County, IL, Richland County, IL, Sangamon County, IL, Shelby County, IL, Stark County, IL, Tazewell County, IL, Washington County, IL, Wayne County, IL, White County, IL, Woodford County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 38 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:43 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

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 75 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, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2012-09-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 443 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2012-09-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 24 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
443 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
457 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
36 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.

272 
ACUS11 KWNS 011741
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 011741 
ILZ000-MOZ000-011845-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 1849
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1241 PM CDT SAT SEP 01 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...IL

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH LIKELY 

VALID 011741Z - 011845Z

PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...95 PERCENT

SUMMARY...AFTERNOON HEATING WILL CONTRIBUTE TO FURTHER
DESTABILIZATION ACROSS IL YIELDING AN INCREASING THREAT FOR ISOLATED
TORNADOES AND PERHAPS LOCALLY DAMAGING WINDS.

DISCUSSION...REMNANTS OF TROPICAL SYSTEM ISAAC ARE DRIFTING SLOWLY
EWD ACROSS MO EARLY THIS AFTERNOON.  DOWNSTREAM...PARTIAL BREAKS IN
CLOUD COVER HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO STEEPENING LOW LEVEL LAPSE RATES
WITHIN THE BOUNDARY LAYER ACROSS IL.  THIS APPEARS TO BE MOSTLY
RESPONSIBLE FOR INCREASE IN SMALL DISCRETE SHOWERS THAT HAVE
DEVELOPED ACROSS MUCH OF CNTRL IL WITHIN FAVORABLY MOIST BUT
MARGINALLY SHEARED ENVIRONMENT.  SEVERAL REPORTS OF TORNADOES HAVE
BEEN NOTED WITH THESE SMALL SHOWERS AND ADDITIONAL SHORT-LIVED WEAK
TORNADOES COULD OCCUR.

ADDITIONALLY...A NARROW LINE OF CONVECTION IS GRADUALLY INCREASING
IN INTENSITY ACROSS WCNTRL IL AND THIS APPEARS LOOSELY CORRELATED
WITH A MID LEVEL DRY INTRUSION AND POSSIBLE MID LEVEL VORT LOBE. 
ALTHOUGH LIGHTNING HAS YET TO BE NOTED WITH THIS ACTIVITY ADDITIONAL
HEATING SHOULD CONTRIBUTE TO MORE INTENSE UPDRAFTS.  LOCALLY
DAMAGING WINDS MAY ULTIMATELY EVOLVE WITH THIS SQUALL LINE ALONG
WITH THE POSSIBILITY FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES.

..DARROW/CORFIDI.. 09/01/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...PAH...LOT...ILX...LSX...DVN...

LAT...LON   41178890 41169004 40459066 39709026 38948985 37618961
            37918817 40188786 41178890

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 31, 9:05 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlexander, Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Champaign and 39 more55 min
Sep 1, 12:46 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCCass, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Clay, Coles and 29 more7 hr
Sep 1, 1:19 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAlexander, Bond, Clinton, Edwards, Fayette, Franklin and 20 more8 hr
Sep 1, 3:30 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlexander, Bond, Christian, Clark, Clay, Clinton and 51 more60 min
Sep 1, 5:43 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlexander, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Johnson, Massac and 7 more92 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Illinois, 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.