Alert archive / Michigan / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 2238

December 26, 20124 counties in Indiana; 19 counties in Michigan

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Dec 26, 2012, 3:29 PM EST for 4 counties in Indiana; 19 counties in Michigan. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Dec 26, 2012, 3:29 PM EST (20:29 UTC)
Expired
Dec 26, 2012, 6:30 PM EST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 23 counties

Elkhart County, IN, LaGrange County, IN, Saint Joseph County, IN, Steuben County, IN, Barry County, MI, Branch County, MI, Calhoun County, MI, Cass County, MI, Clinton County, MI, Eaton County, MI, Genesee County, MI, Hillsdale County, MI, Ingham County, MI, Jackson County, MI, Kalamazoo County, MI, Lapeer County, MI, Livingston County, MI, Macomb County, MI, Oakland County, MI, Saint Clair County, MI, Saint Joseph County, MI, Shiawassee County, MI, Washtenaw County, MI

The radar

The Detroit radar (KDTX), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:29 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

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 99 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, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 2012-12-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 2012-12-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 79 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
660 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
79 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
196 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.

256 
ACUS11 KWNS 262030
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 262029
MIZ000-OHZ000-INZ000-262330-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 2238
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0229 PM CST WED DEC 26 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...SRN LOWER MI...FAR NRN INDIANA

CONCERNING...HEAVY SNOW

VALID 262029Z - 262330Z

SUMMARY...BANDS OF SNOW WITH RATES LOCALLY APPROACHING 1 IN/HR WILL
CONTINUE THROUGH AROUND 23Z...WITH SNOW RATES EXPECTED TO DECREASE
THEREAFTER.

DISCUSSION...BANDS OF MODERATE TO LOCALLY HEAVY SNOW ROUGHLY ALIGN
WITH A NE/SW-ORIENTED AXIS OF 850-MB CONFLUENCE...NW OF THE CENTER
OF DEEP LOW PRESSURE OVER THE ERN CONUS. RADAR MOSAIC IMAGERY AS OF
AROUND 2020Z INDICATES ONE BAND CENTERED 30 NE MTC TO 25 SW
JXN...ANOTHER BAND CENTERED 30 NNE LAN TO 10 SW AZO...AND YET
ANOTHER BAND CENTERED 20 SW GRR TO 20 SW SBN. SFC OBSERVATIONS
SUGGEST THE RECENT OCCURRENCE OF HEAVY SNOW AT PTK AND YIP...AND
SNOW RATES LOCALLY APPROACHING 1 IN/HR MAY OCCUR WITH THE SNOW
BANDS. AS THE LOW-LEVEL FLOW GRADUALLY BACKS WHILE THE CYCLONE
SHIFTS NEWD TO THE SE OF THE AREA...SNOW BANDS MAY GRADUALLY PIVOT
AND BECOME ORIENTED MORE NNE/SSW. HOWEVER...AFTER 23Z...FORCING FOR
ASCENT ACCOMPANYING THE CYCLONE WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY REMOVED
FROM THE AREA WITH A DECREASE IN THE INFLUX OF LOW/MID-LEVEL
MOISTURE. AS SUCH...SNOW RATES ARE EXPECTED TO DECREASE AFTER 23Z.

..COHEN.. 12/26/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...DTX...IWX...GRR...

LAT...LON   42918254 42578271 42018388 41648472 41458584 41458663
            41838667 42538596 43098460 43178353 42918254

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 26, 3:25 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBartholomew, Boone, Brown, Clark, Clay, Crawford and 45 more6 hr
Dec 26, 10:39 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Allen, Blackford, Boone, Cass, Clinton and 26 more6 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Michigan, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Indiana, 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.