Alert archive / Alabama / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 1869

September 3, 201217 counties in Alabama; Holmes County, Jackson County, Santa Rosa County, Florida; 14 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Sep 3, 2012, 12:29 PM CDT for 17 counties in Alabama; Holmes County, Jackson County, Santa Rosa County, Florida; 14 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 61 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 3, 2012, 12:29 PM CDT (17:29 UTC)
Expired
Sep 3, 2012, 1:30 PM CDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
40%
All 34 counties

Barbour County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Butler County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dale County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Pike County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Baker County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Clay County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Early County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Quitman County, GA, Randolph County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Stewart County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Webster County, GA

The watches that followed

Watches SPC issued over any of the same counties within four hours of this discussion.

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 5.5 hours before the alert went out and 197 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2012-09-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 215 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2012-09-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 60 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
215 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-149 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1125 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
60 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
93 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

909 
ACUS11 KWNS 031730
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 031729
GAZ000-FLZ000-ALZ000-031830-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 1869
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1229 PM CDT MON SEP 03 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...SRN AL...SWRN GA...FL PANHANDLE

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH POSSIBLE

VALID 031729Z - 031830Z

PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...40 PERCENT

SUMMARY...THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND
SEVERITY THIS AFTERNOON...POSSIBLY PRODUCING DMGG WINDS AND HEAVY
RAINFALL AS THEY PROGRESS ESEWD WITH TIME.

DISCUSSION...USING MODIFIED AREA 12Z SOUNDINGS WITH 17Z SURFACE
OBSERVATIONS...CONVECTIVE INHIBITION SHOULD BE ERODED SHORTLY...WITH
A SUBSEQUENT INCREASE IN SURFACE-BASED STORMS EXPECTED. ONGOING
STORMS S OF MGM AND LSF AMIDST A RELATIVE MOIST AXIS CHARACTERIZED
BY MID-70S DEW POINTS SHOULD SERVE AS A LIKELY FOCUS FOR NEW
ACTIVITY AS OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES ARE GENERATED IN A DEEPLY SATURATED
AIR MASS. AS MORE ROBUST UPDRAFTS DEVELOP...VEERING WINDS WITH
HEIGHT WILL SUPPORT BRIEF/TRANSIENT CIRCULATIONS...WITH AN ATTENDANT
THREAT OF DMGG WINDS AND/OR A BRIEF TORNADO.

..HURLBUT/CORFIDI.. 09/03/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...FFC...TAE...BMX...MOB...

LAT...LON   31998784 32188687 32228541 32068426 31178403 30678475
            30618630 30678774 30958807 31998784

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 2, 7:13 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Fayette, Franklin, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence and 3 more62 min
Sep 2, 8:43 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCalhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, DeKalb, Etowah, St. Clair62 min
Sep 2, 9:48 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFayette, Lamar, Marion, Walker, Winston57 min
Sep 3, 3:25 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Chilton and 16 more65 min
Sep 3, 3:46 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Bibb, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke and 19 more7 hr
Sep 3, 6:55 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke and 19 more65 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Alabama, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Georgia, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Florida, 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.