Alert archive / Alabama / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 1880

September 4, 201219 counties in Alabama; 5 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Sep 4, 2012, 3:42 PM CDT for 19 counties in Alabama; 5 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 63 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 4, 2012, 3:42 PM CDT (20:42 UTC)
Expired
Sep 4, 2012, 4:45 PM CDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
40%
All 24 counties

Autauga County, AL, Butler County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pike County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Clarke County, MS, George County, MS, Greene County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Wayne County, MS

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 137 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:41 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

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 174 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 2012-09-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1659 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 2012-09-04The 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
1659 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-23 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
531 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
26 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.

786 
ACUS11 KWNS 042043
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 042042
ALZ000-FLZ000-MSZ000-042145-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 1880
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0342 PM CDT TUE SEP 04 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...E CNTRL/SERN MS AND CNTRL/SWRN AL

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH POSSIBLE

VALID 042042Z - 042145Z

PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...40 PERCENT

SUMMARY...A SMALL CLUSTER OF STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS CAPABLE OF DMGG
WINDS AND HEAVY RAINFALL WILL DRIFT SWD WITH TIME. THE AREA WILL
CONTINUE TO BE MONITORED FOR A POSSIBLE WW.

DISCUSSION...CLEARING IN THE WAKE OF EARLIER CONVECTIVE DEBRIS
APPEARS TO HAVE ALLOWED SUFFICIENT SURFACE HEATING FOR MINIMAL
CONVECTIVE INHIBITION TO BE ERODED. STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS NOW
APPEAR TO BE DEVELOPING ALONG A CONFLUENT AXIS EXTENDING THROUGH
CNTRL AL. AS ADDITIONAL STORMS BEGIN TO FORM...QUICKLY COLLAPSING
CORES AMIDST A DEEPLY SATURATED AIR MASS /PRECIPITATION LOADING/
WILL GENERATE NEW OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES...POSSIBLY SUPPORTING AN
EVENTUAL MCS. HOWEVER...GENERALLY DISORGANIZED WIND FIELDS WITH
HEIGHT AND WEAKER LOW-LEVEL FLOW COMPARED TO YESTERDAY MAY LIMIT A
MORE WIDESPREAD WIND EVENT...THOUGH A HEAVY RAINFALL THREAT WILL
LIKELY CONTINUE.

..HURLBUT/CORFIDI.. 09/04/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...TAE...BMX...MOB...JAN...LIX...

LAT...LON   31608584 31258722 30538788 30438832 30778884 31508893
            32078885 33038838 33088752 32748636 32198581 31608584

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 3, 9:28 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke and 17 more62 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Alabama, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Mississippi, 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.