Alert archive / Tennessee / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 214

March 2, 201220 counties in Georgia; 9 counties in North Carolina; 27 counties in Tennessee

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Mar 2, 2012, 2:58 PM EST for 20 counties in Georgia; 9 counties in North Carolina; 27 counties in Tennessee. It was in force for 62 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 2, 2012, 2:58 PM EST (19:58 UTC)
Expired
Mar 2, 2012, 4:00 PM EST
In force
62 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 56 counties

Bartow County, GA, Catoosa County, GA, Cherokee County, GA, Dawson County, GA, Fannin County, GA, Forsyth County, GA, Gilmer County, GA, Gordon County, GA, Habersham County, GA, Hall County, GA, Lumpkin County, GA, Murray County, GA, Pickens County, GA, Rabun County, GA, Stephens County, GA, Towns County, GA, Union County, GA, Walker County, GA, White County, GA, Whitfield County, GA, Cherokee County, NC, Clay County, NC, Graham County, NC, Haywood County, NC, Jackson County, NC, Macon County, NC, Madison County, NC, Swain County, NC, Transylvania County, NC, Anderson County, TN, Blount County, TN, Bradley County, TN, Campbell County, TN, Claiborne County, TN, Cocke County, TN, Grainger County, TN, Greene County, TN, Hamblen County, TN, Hancock County, TN, Hawkins County, TN, Jefferson County, TN, Knox County, TN, Loudon County, TN, McMinn County, TN, Meigs County, TN, Monroe County, TN, Morgan County, TN, Polk County, TN, Rhea County, TN, Roane County, TN, Scott County, TN, Sevier County, TN, Sullivan County, TN, Unicoi County, TN, Union County, TN, Washington County, TN

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:01 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

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 229 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2012-03-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 55 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2012-03-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 206 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
55 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-255 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
788 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
206 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
268 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.

114 
ACUS11 KWNS 021958
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 021958 
TNZ000-NCZ000-VAZ000-SCZ000-GAZ000-022100-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0214
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0158 PM CST FRI MAR 02 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...FAR WRN NC AND NWRN SC...NRN GA...ERN TN

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH POSSIBLE 

VALID 021958Z - 022100Z

THE POTENTIAL FOR DMGG WINDS...LARGE HAIL...AND PERHAPS A TORNADO OR
TWO WILL EXIST THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE SRN
APPALACHIANS. CONVECTIVE TRENDS ARE BEING MONITORED FOR A POSSIBLE
WW.

SFC ANALYSIS FROM 19Z SHOWS A NEARLY STATIONARY BAROCLINIC ZONE
ORIENTED E-W ACROSS FAR NWRN SC...ARCING BACK TOWARDS THE NE ALONG
NEAR THE WRN SLOPES OF THE SRN APPALACHIAN MTNS. A LONE WEAKENING
SUPERCELL WAS NOTED ON 1950Z RADAR IMAGERY MOVING EWD ACROSS SWAIN
COUNTY NC. THIS STORM IS CURRENTLY NEAR THE BAROCLINIC ZONE AND WILL
EVENTUALLY ENCOUNTER A PROGRESSIVELY COOLER/MORE STABLE AIR MASS. 

FARTHER S/W...BREAKS IN CLOUDINESS HAVE ALLOWED AMPLE SFC HEATING TO
OCCUR OVER PARTS OF NRN GA AND ERN TN...WITH THE ENVIRONMENT
BECOMING MODERATELY UNSTABLE AND WEAKLY CAPPED. WEAK ECHOES HAVE
BEEN NOTED ON RADAR RECENTLY AS WAA HAS INCREASED WITHIN A BROAD
LLJ. BACKGROUND FLOW FIELDS REMAIN QUITE STRONG AND FAVORABLE FOR
ROTATING STORMS...WITH FFC VWP DATA SHOWING A STRONG CYCLONICALLY
CURVED HODOGRAPH. PRIMARY UNCERTAINTY REMAINS CONVECTIVE COVERAGE
GIVEN ABSENCE OF STRONG LARGE-SCALE FORCING...BUT CONVECTIVE TRENDS
WILL BE MONITORED FOR A POSSIBLE WW.

..ROGERS.. 03/02/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...GSP...MRX...FFC...OHX...

LAT...LON   35938244 35128280 34528329 34128403 34168495 34388535
            34778533 36438457 36638327 36518219 35938244

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 2, 3:30 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBanks, Dawson, Fannin, Franklin, Gilmer, Habersham and 8 more90 min
Mar 2, 10:07 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCatoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Murray, Walker, Whitfield53 min
Mar 2, 10:25 AM ESTTornado WatchSPCCatoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Walker, Whitfield5 hr
Mar 2, 12:46 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Fannin, Floyd and 6 more29 min
Mar 2, 3:19 PM ESTTornado WatchSPCBanks, Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Dade and 23 more8 hr
Mar 2, 5:37 PM ESTTornado WatchSPCCarroll, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas and 11 more7 hr
Mar 2, 6:41 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattahoochee and 42 more2 hr
Mar 2, 4:40 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Fentress, Overton, Pickett, Scott65 min
Mar 2, 10:22 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBenton, Carroll, Cheatham, Chester, Crockett, Davidson and 28 more113 min
Mar 2, 11:28 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrockett, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson, Haywood, Lake and 5 more62 min
Mar 2, 1:05 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBenton, Carroll, Cheatham, Chester, Crockett, Davidson and 28 more85 min
Mar 2, 2:20 PM ESTTornado WatchSPCBedford, Benton, Cannon, Carroll, Cheatham, Chester and 50 more9 hr
Mar 2, 3:35 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Macon, Pickett, Sumner85 min
Mar 2, 4:25 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBedford, Benton, Cannon, Carroll, Cheatham, Chester and 44 more65 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Tennessee, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Georgia, 2012Mesoscale 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.