Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 1928

September 8, 20125 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Sep 8, 2012, 11:38 AM EDT for 5 states. It was in force for 97 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 8, 2012, 11:38 AM EDT (15:38 UTC)
Expired
Sep 8, 2012, 1:15 PM EDT
In force
97 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 94 counties

Allegany County, MD, Baltimore County, MD, Carroll County, MD, City of Baltimore, MD, Frederick County, MD, Howard County, MD, Montgomery County, MD, Washington County, MD, Albany County, NY, Broome County, NY, Chemung County, NY, Chenango County, NY, Cortland County, NY, Delaware County, NY, Fulton County, NY, Greene County, NY, Hamilton County, NY, Herkimer County, NY, Lewis County, NY, Madison County, NY, Montgomery County, NY, Oneida County, NY, Onondaga County, NY, Oswego County, NY, Otsego County, NY, Saratoga County, NY, Schenectady County, NY, Schoharie County, NY, Sullivan County, NY, Tioga County, NY, Tompkins County, NY, Warren County, NY, Adams County, PA, Bedford County, PA, Berks County, PA, Bradford County, PA, Carbon County, PA, Centre County, PA, Clinton County, PA, Columbia County, PA, Cumberland County, PA, Dauphin County, PA, Franklin County, PA, Fulton County, PA, Huntingdon County, PA, Juniata County, PA, Lackawanna County, PA, Lancaster County, PA, Lebanon County, PA, Lehigh County, PA, Luzerne County, PA, Lycoming County, PA, Mifflin County, PA, Monroe County, PA, Montour County, PA, Northumberland County, PA, Perry County, PA, Pike County, PA, Schuylkill County, PA, Snyder County, PA, Sullivan County, PA, Susquehanna County, PA, Tioga County, PA, Union County, PA, Wayne County, PA, Wyoming County, PA, York County, PA, Arlington County, VA, City of Alexandria, VA, City of Fairfax, VA, City of Falls Church, VA, City of Harrisonburg, VA, City of Manassas, VA, City of Manassas Park, VA, City of Winchester, VA, Clarke County, VA, Culpeper County, VA, Fairfax County, VA, Fauquier County, VA, Frederick County, VA, Greene County, VA, Loudoun County, VA, Madison County, VA, Page County, VA, Prince William County, VA, Rappahannock County, VA, Rockingham County, VA, Shenandoah County, VA, Warren County, VA, Berkeley County, WV, Hampshire County, WV, Hardy County, WV, Jefferson County, WV, Morgan County, WV

The radar

The Binghamton radar (KBGM), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:40 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

Albany, NY (KALY), launched 12:00Z, 3.6 hours before the alert went out and 240 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, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 2012-09-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 113 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, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 2012-09-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 294 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
113 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-168 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
869 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
294 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
397 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

477 
ACUS11 KWNS 081538
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 081538 
NYZ000-PAZ000-MDZ000-DCZ000-VAZ000-WVZ000-081715-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 1928
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1038 AM CDT SAT SEP 08 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...PARTS OF THE NRN/CNTRL APPALACHIANS

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 634...

VALID 081538Z - 081715Z

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 634
CONTINUES.

SUMMARY...DAMAGING WIND THREAT SHOULD PERSIST WITHIN WW 634 ALONG A
THIN FRONTAL SQUALL LINE CURRENTLY IN SWRN NY. ALONG WITH THE SRN
EXTENT OF THE LINE IN WRN PA AND WV...THIS QLCS SHOULD INTENSIFY
RAPIDLY AS IT REACHES THE INSTABILITY AXIS FROM NRN VA TO CNTRL NY
IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON...WITH A SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE IN THE DAMAGING
WIND THREAT EXPECTED. A DOWNSTREAM TORNADO WATCH IS ANTICIPATED FOR
WFO BTV/ALY/BGM AND A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS EXPECTED FOR
CTP/LWX/PHI.

DISCUSSION...A NARROW BUT LONG BAND OF ENHANCED REFLECTIVITY WITHOUT
CG DETECTED LIGHTNING EXTENDED FROM SWRN NY TO ERN KY AS OF
1530Z...ALONG THE SURFACE COLD FRONT. AN 80-100 MILE GAP REMAINS
BETWEEN THIS AND THE LEADING EDGE OF MORE ROBUST SURFACE HEATING
WHERE 15Z TEMPERATURES HAD RISEN THROUGH THE 70S AND LOWER 80S. AS
THE FRONT MERGES WITH THIS INSTABILITY AXIS...A SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE
IN CONVECTIVE INTENSITY IS ANTICIPATED. LOW/DEEP-LAYER SHEAR WILL BE
STRONGEST WITH NRN EXTENT...WHILE STRONGER HEATING WITH SRN EXTENT
SHOULD PROMOTE RELATIVELY GREATER BUOYANCY. THIS SETUP APPEARS TO BE
SUPPORTIVE FOR THE ADVERTISED POTENTIAL OF SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS
DAMAGING WIND EVENTS. A FEW EMBEDDED QLCS TORNADOES ALSO APPEAR
PROBABLE ACROSS CNTRL/ERN NY.

..GRAMS.. 09/08/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...BTV...ALY...PHI...BGM...BUF...CTP...LWX...

LAT...LON   44207583 44357519 44107392 43587349 42307406 39397642
            38317767 38227840 38497933 39837876 42027707 44207583

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 8, 5:00 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllegany, Garrett60 min
Sep 8, 12:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAllegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Caroline, Carroll and 13 more9 hr
Sep 8, 1:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCDorchester, Somerset, Wicomico, Worcester7 hr
Sep 8, 2:12 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil and 9 more93 min
Sep 8, 3:25 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCSaint Mary's, Somerset65 min
Sep 8, 4:22 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnne Arundel, Calvert, Caroline, Cecil, Charles, Dorchester and 6 more53 min
Sep 8, 12:57 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChautauqua2 hr
Sep 8, 8:42 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBroome, Cayuga, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Herkimer and 13 more93 min
Sep 8, 10:03 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAllegany, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chemung, Franklin, Genesee and 16 more5 hr
Sep 8, 10:39 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlbany, Bronx, Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Kings and 14 more2 hr
Sep 8, 11:18 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCBronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange and 6 more10 hr
Sep 8, 12:40 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCAlbany, Broome, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cortland and 22 more7 hr
Sep 8, 1:30 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Putnam and 3 more60 min
Sep 8, 2:46 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlbany, Clinton, Columbia, Delaware, Dutchess, Essex and 14 more59 min
Sep 8, 3:55 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColumbia, Rensselaer, Washington65 min
Sep 8, 6:17 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCSuffolk58 min
Sep 8, 12:20 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAmherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Botetourt, Buckingham, Campbell and 22 more115 min
Sep 8, 7:10 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCGreensville, Isle of Wight, Prince George, Southampton, Surry, Sussex and 3 more65 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Pennsylvania, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in New York, 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.