Alert archive / North Carolina / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 1963

September 18, 201231 counties in North Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Sep 18, 2012, 1:21 PM EDT for 31 counties in North Carolina. It was in force for 84 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 18, 2012, 1:21 PM EDT (17:21 UTC)
Expired
Sep 18, 2012, 2:45 PM EDT
In force
84 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 31 counties

Alamance County, NC, Anson County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Davidson County, NC, Durham County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Forsyth County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Granville County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Lee County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Nash County, NC, Orange County, NC, Person County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Vance County, NC, Wake County, NC, Warren County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 48 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:24 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 5.4 hours before the alert went out and 104 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2012-09-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 533 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2012-09-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 221 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
533 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
545 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
221 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
313 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
4.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

759 
ACUS11 KWNS 181722
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 181721
NCZ000-VAZ000-SCZ000-181845-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 1963
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1221 PM CDT TUE SEP 18 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...CNTRL NC

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 641...

VALID 181721Z - 181845Z

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 641
CONTINUES.

SUMMARY...THE SEVERE THREAT IS INCREASING ACROSS WW 641 AS CELLS
INTENSIFY AND MOVE NEWD ACROSS THE WATCH. A THREAT WILL EXIST FOR
TORNADOES AND WIND DAMAGE ESPECIALLY AS THE STORMS CONTINUE TO
ORGANIZE OVER THE NEXT HOUR OR TWO.

DISCUSSION...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE ONGOING ACROSS WW 641
LOCATED ON THE NWRN EDGE OF MODERATE INSTABILITY WITH MESOANALYSIS
ESTIMATING MLCAPE VALUES IN THE 1000 TO 1500 J/KG RANGE. THIS
COMBINED WITH A MOIST BOUNDARY LAYER WITH SFC DEWPOINTS IN THE LOWER
TO MID 70S F...LCL HEIGHTS BELOW 500 METERS AND STRONG LOW-LEVEL
SHEAR PROFILES AS EVIDENCED ON THE RALEIGH WSR-88D VWP WILL BE
FAVORABLE FOR ROTATING STORMS AND POSSIBLY A FEW TORNADOES. SFC
TEMPS ARE NOW AROUND 80 F AND SHOULD CONTINUE TO WARM HELPING TO
STEEP LOW-LEVEL LAPSE RATES A BIT. THIS MAY ALLOW THE WIND DAMAGE
THREAT TO INCREASE ESPECIALLY IF A LINE SEGMENT CAN ORGANIZE ACROSS
THE WATCH AREA.

..BROYLES.. 09/18/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...AKQ...MHX...RAH...ILM...RNK...CAE...GSP...

LAT...LON   34627946 34807966 34808029 35228024 35168041 35218050
            35518027 35488013 35728037 35838047 35908033 36038043
            36118048 36238039 36227915 36547912 36547783 36487783
            36477765 36377752 36327757 36317745 36127725 36017738
            35857733 35607779 35187785 35207812 34747819 34697812
            34567824 34877851 34837889 34957897 34867913 34857932
            34757931 34627946

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 17, 8:14 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson and 4 more2 hr
Sep 18, 12:23 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlexander, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Catawba and 14 more97 min
Sep 18, 8:49 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Anson, Caswell, Chatham, Cumberland, Davidson and 31 more116 min
Sep 18, 9:45 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCAlamance, Anson, Chatham, Cumberland, Davidson, Durham and 25 more8 hr
Sep 18, 10:54 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCBertie, Camden, Caswell, Chowan, Currituck, Gates and 4 more9 hr
Sep 18, 11:19 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Caswell, Chatham, Cumberland, Durham, Edgecombe and 27 more86 min
Sep 18, 11:35 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCUnion85 min
Sep 18, 1:00 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCBeaufort, Carteret, Craven, Dare, Duplin, Greene and 9 more5 hr
Sep 18, 1:27 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCamden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Hertford, Northampton and 2 more63 min
Sep 18, 3:52 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBertie, Camden, Chowan, Gates, Hertford, Northampton and 2 more113 min
Sep 18, 4:11 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Anson, Beaufort, Carteret, Chatham, Craven and 40 more94 min
Sep 18, 6:15 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCamden, Carteret, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates and 5 more30 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in North Carolina, 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.