Alert archive / Alabama / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 2222

December 25, 201211 counties in Alabama

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Dec 25, 2012, 6:05 PM CST for 11 counties in Alabama. It was in force for 85 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Dec 25, 2012, 6:05 PM CST (00:05 UTC)
Expired
Dec 25, 2012, 7:30 PM CST
In force
85 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Bibb County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Clay County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Shelby County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 38 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:05 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

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 39 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, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2012-12-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 22 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, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2012-12-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 696 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
22 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-78 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
563 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
63 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
696 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
921 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

464 
ACUS11 KWNS 260005
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 260005 
ALZ000-260130-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 2222
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0605 PM CST TUE DEC 25 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...CNTRL AL

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 697...

VALID 260005Z - 260130Z

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 697
CONTINUES.

SUMMARY...DAMAGING WIND THREAT MAY INCREASE ACROSS SRN PORTIONS OF
WW 697 THROUGH 02Z.

DISCUSSION...NRN PORTION OF LONG-LIVED QLCS HAD LOST ITS MORE
PROMINENT BOWING STRUCTURE COMPARED TO 1-2 HOURS AGO. ALTHOUGH
CONVECTION IS ROOTED ABOVE THE PBL...AN OBSERVED WIND GUST OF 28 KT
WAS SAMPLED BY THE TCL ASOS. DESPITE THE WEAK ELEVATED BUOYANCY AND
COOL SURFACE TEMPERATURES DOWNSTREAM /MIDDLE TO UPPER 50S/...MERGING
OF THE QLCS WITH THE PRE-FRONTAL CONFLUENCE BAND MAY YIELD AN UPTICK
IN CONVECTIVE INTENSITY ON THE NOSE OF THE 700 MB JET. A RETURN TO A
PERSISTENT BOWING STRUCTURE APPEARS PROBABLE...MOVING OUT OF WW 695
INTO THE SRN PORTION OF WW 697 IN THE NEXT HOUR...WITH AN ASSOCIATED
THREAT FOR DAMAGING WINDS.

..GRAMS.. 12/26/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...BMX...

LAT...LON   33498746 33698695 33608591 33308540 33028530 32798534
            32578550 32568612 32698710 32848757 33498746

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 25, 7:08 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Butler, Chilton, Clarke, Clay and 14 more67 min
Dec 25, 8:49 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Bullock, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale and 9 more56 min
Dec 25, 9:23 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Chambers, Coffee, Covington and 12 more6 hr
Dec 25, 11:10 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Lee and 1 more95 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Alabama, 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.