Alert archive / Virginia / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 2000

September 27, 20126 counties in Maryland; 14 counties in Virginia; Jefferson County, West Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Sep 27, 2012, 6:16 PM EDT for 6 counties in Maryland; 14 counties in Virginia; Jefferson County, West Virginia. It was in force for 29 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 27, 2012, 6:16 PM EDT (22:16 UTC)
Expired
Sep 27, 2012, 6:45 PM EDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
80%
All 21 counties

Anne Arundel County, MD, City of Baltimore, MD, Frederick County, MD, Howard County, MD, Montgomery County, MD, Prince George's County, MD, Arlington County, VA, City of Alexandria, VA, City of Fairfax, VA, City of Falls Church, VA, City of Manassas, VA, City of Manassas Park, VA, City of Winchester, VA, Clarke County, VA, Fairfax County, VA, Fauquier County, VA, Loudoun County, VA, Prince William County, VA, Rappahannock County, VA, Warren County, VA, Jefferson County, WV

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 6 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:18 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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 14 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2012-09-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 392 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2012-09-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -32 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
392 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-100 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
938 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

835 
ACUS11 KWNS 272217
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 272216
MDZ000-DCZ000-VAZ000-WVZ000-272245-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 2000
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0516 PM CDT THU SEP 27 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...NRN VA INTO MD INCLUDING PARTS OF THE DC AND
BALTIMORE METRO AREAS

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH LIKELY

VALID 272216Z - 272245Z

PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...80 PERCENT

SUMMARY...A SEVERE TSTM WATCH WILL BE COORDINATED SHORTLY ACROSS NRN
VA INTO MD INCLUDING PARTS OF THE WASHINGTON DC AND BALTIMORE METRO
AREAS.

DISCUSSION...AT 22Z...MESOSCALE ANALYSIS SHOWED AN OUTFLOW BOUNDARY
EXTENDING FROM FAR NRN VA EWD TO INVOF WASHINGTON DC.  THE AIR MASS
IN THIS REGION IS MODERATELY UNSTABLE WITH EFFECTIVE BULK SHEAR OF
30-35 KT WHICH IS SUFFICIENT FOR ORGANIZED STORM STRUCTURES
INCLUDING SUPERCELLS AS HAVE BEEN OBSERVED OVER NRN VA THUS FAR.
THIS TREND IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR ADDITIONAL STORMS...SOME
STRONG TO SEVERE...AS THE PROGRESSIVE SHORTWAVE TROUGH OVER WRN PA
ADVANCES EWD AIDING IN SUSTAINED UPDRAFTS.

..PETERS/CARBIN.. 09/27/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...LWX...

LAT...LON   38847845 39377812 39517718 39377642 38987641 38667655
            38587811 38627837 38847845

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 27, 3:18 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George's and 2 more117 min
Sep 27, 6:36 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAnne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George's and 1 more5 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Virginia, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Maryland, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in West 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.