Alert archive / Kentucky / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 222

March 2, 201214 counties in Kentucky; 8 counties in Virginia; 9 counties in West Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Mar 2, 2012, 7:37 PM EST for 14 counties in Kentucky; 8 counties in Virginia; 9 counties in West Virginia. It was in force for 83 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 2, 2012, 7:37 PM EST (00:37 UTC)
Expired
Mar 2, 2012, 9:00 PM EST
In force
83 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 31 counties

Bell County, KY, Breathitt County, KY, Clay County, KY, Floyd County, KY, Harlan County, KY, Johnson County, KY, Knott County, KY, Knox County, KY, Leslie County, KY, Letcher County, KY, Magoffin County, KY, Martin County, KY, Perry County, KY, Pike County, KY, Buchanan County, VA, City of Bristol, VA, City of Norton, VA, Dickenson County, VA, Lee County, VA, Russell County, VA, Scott County, VA, Wise County, VA, Boone County, WV, Calhoun County, WV, Kanawha County, WV, Lincoln County, WV, Logan County, WV, Mingo County, WV, Putnam County, WV, Roane County, WV, Wayne County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:40 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 nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 236 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 2012-03-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 25 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 2012-03-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 285 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
25 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-67 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
864 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
100 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
285 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
316 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.

301 
ACUS11 KWNS 030038
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 030037
WVZ000-VAZ000-KYZ000-TNZ000-030200-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0222
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0637 PM CST FRI MAR 02 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...ERN KY THROUGH WRN HALF OF WV AND EXTREME SWRN VA

CONCERNING...TORNADO WATCH 58...62...

VALID 030037Z - 030200Z

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR TORNADO WATCH 58...62...CONTINUES.

THREAT FOR STRONG TORNADOES...DAMAGING WIND AND VERY LARGE HAIL WILL
CONTINUE THROUGH MID EVENING THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF ERN KY...THE
WRN HALF OF WV INTO SWRN VA.

SEVERAL TORNADIC SUPERCELLS CONTINUE THROUGH ERN KY...WRN WV AND
SWRN VA WITHIN AN ENVIRONMENT CHARACTERIZED BY VERY LARGE 0-1 KM
HODOGRAPHS...60-70 KT EFFECTIVE BULK SHEAR AND 500 J/KG MLCAPE.
TENDENCY HAS BEEN FOR SOME STORMS TO EVOLVE INTO LINES...BUT A FEW
DISCRETE SUPERCELLS REMAIN AHEAD OF THE LINE. THE UPSCALE GROWTH
WILL INCREASE THE POTENTIAL FOR DAMAGING WIND...BUT THREAT FOR
TORNADOES WILL PERSIST WITH ANY SUPERCELLS EMBEDDED WITHIN OR AHEAD
OF THE LINE.

LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS INDICATES A WEDGE FRONT PERSISTING FROM WRN
NC INTO ERN WV. THE SURFACE LAYER EAST OF THIS BOUNDARY IS STABLE
WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE 40S TO AROUND 50F...SUGGESTING THE STORMS
SHOULD BEGIN TO WEAKEN LATER THIS EVENING AS THEY CROSS INTO THE
COOLER AIR OVER ERN WV AND FARTHER EAST INTO VA.

..DIAL.. 03/03/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...RNK...RLX...MRX...JKL...

LAT...LON   38938119 38648085 37968173 36988175 36618216 36588352
            36988425 38408219 38938119

Nearby

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