Alert archive / Alabama / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 2223

December 25, 201220 counties in Alabama; Jackson County, Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Dec 25, 2012, 7:08 PM CST for 20 counties in Alabama; Jackson County, Mississippi. It was in force for 67 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Dec 25, 2012, 7:08 PM CST (01:08 UTC)
Expired
Dec 25, 2012, 8:15 PM CST
In force
67 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 21 counties

Autauga County, AL, Baldwin County, AL, Butler County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Clay County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Shelby County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Jackson County, MS

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 126 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:10 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, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 126 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.

175 
ACUS11 KWNS 260109
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 260108
GAZ000-ALZ000-FLZ000-MSZ000-LAZ000-260215-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 2223
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0708 PM CST TUE DEC 25 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...FAR SERN LA/MS...SWRN TO CNTRL AL

CONCERNING...TORNADO WATCH 695...696...

VALID 260108Z - 260215Z

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR TORNADO WATCH 695...696...CONTINUES.

SUMMARY...TORNADO WATCH 695 AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 697 ARE
SET TO EXPIRE AT 02Z. PORTIONS OF THESE WW/S WILL BE REPLACED OR
LOCALLY EXTENDED AS COORDINATION WITH AFFECTED WFO/S OCCURS PRIOR TO
EXPIRATION.

DISCUSSION...LONG-LIVED QLCS EXTENDED FROM NEAR BHM TO JUST E OF MSY
AT 01Z...PROGRESSING EWD AROUND 30-35 KT. THIS LINE SHOULD ATTEMPT
TO ACCELERATE BY LATE EVENING AS 700 MB JET INTENSIFIES EWD ALONG
THE LINE...YIELDING INCREASING DAMAGING WIND POTENTIAL...PRIMARILY
ALONG AND S OF THE SURFACE WARM FRONT FROM NEAR MGM TO ABY. HERE
TO...AN ISOLATED SIGNIFICANT TORNADO RISK STILL EXISTS IN THE
NEAR-TERM AND SHOULD LARGELY EVOLVE INTO WW 696 GIVEN 0-1 KM SHEAR
OF 40-45 KT.

FARTHER N...DOWNSTREAM AIR MASS IS NOT PARTICULARLY UNSTABLE N OF
THE FRONT PER SURFACE OBSERVATIONS AND 00Z BMX RAOB...BUT GIVEN THE
DEGREE OF FORCING AND KINEMATIC PROFILES...A THREAT FOR DAMAGING
WINDS SHOULD PERSIST ACROSS CNTRL AL INTO PARTS OF WRN GA /DETAILED
IN MCD 2221/.

..GRAMS.. 12/26/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...FFC...BMX...MOB...LIX...

LAT...LON   30058938 30878846 32278743 33248682 33538658 33718627
            33728582 33518532 33118522 31858642 30708735 30318751
            30058938

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 25, 6:05 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBibb, Chambers, Chilton, Clay, Coosa, Elmore and 5 more85 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, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Mississippi, 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.