Alert archive / North Carolina / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012
Mesoscale Discussion 228
The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Mar 3, 2012, 3:58 AM EST for 12 counties in Georgia; 27 counties in North Carolina; 22 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 92 min.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 3, 2012, 3:58 AM EST (08:58 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 3, 2012, 5:30 AM EST
- In force
- 92 min
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 61 counties
Burke County, GA, Columbia County, GA, Glascock County, GA, Jefferson County, GA, Jenkins County, GA, Lincoln County, GA, McDuffie County, GA, Richmond County, GA, Taliaferro County, GA, Warren County, GA, Washington County, GA, Wilkes County, GA, Anson County, NC, Cabarrus County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Durham County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Greene County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Lee County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Nash County, NC, Orange County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Robeson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Union County, NC, Wake County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Aiken County, SC, Barnwell County, SC, Calhoun County, SC, Chester County, SC, Chesterfield County, SC, Darlington County, SC, Edgefield County, SC, Fairfield County, SC, Greenwood County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Lancaster County, SC, Laurens County, SC, Lee County, SC, Lexington County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, McCormick County, SC, Newberry County, SC, Richland County, SC, Saluda County, SC, Sumter County, SC, Union County, SC, York County, SC
The radar
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 111 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:00 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
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 164 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 518 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 65 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 442 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 585 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
587
ACUS11 KWNS 030859
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 030858
NCZ000-SCZ000-GAZ000-031030-
MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0228
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0258 AM CST SAT MAR 03 2012
AREAS AFFECTED...ERN GA...CNTRL SC...CNTRL NC
CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 66...
VALID 030858Z - 031030Z
THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 66
CONTINUES.
A TORNADO THREAT WILL LIKELY CONTINUE THROUGH DAYBREAK FROM CNTRL NC
SWWD ACROSS SC INTO ERN GA DOWNSTREAM FROM WW 66. A NEW TORNADO
WATCH IS BEING CONSIDERED ALTHOUGH THE THREAT IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN
ISOLATED.
A LINEAR MCS IS ONGOING FROM NEAR GREENSBORO NC ON AN OLD WEDGE
FRONT SWWD TO NEAR ATHENS GA NEAR A PRE-FRONTAL TROUGH . SFC
DEWPOINTS AHEAD OF LINE OF STORMS ARE IN THE LOWER TO MID 60S F AND
INSTABILITY IS SUFFICIENT TO KEEP A THREAT FOR STRONG CONVECTION
GOING THROUGH DAYBREAK. FORECAST SOUNDINGS ACROSS THE MCD AREA VERY
SHOW STRONG DEEP LAYER SHEAR WITH 0-6 KM SHEAR VALUES IN THE 75 TO
85 KT RANGE. IN ADDITION...A CONSOLIDATED 40 TO 50 KT LOW-LEVEL JET
MAX IS CREATING FAVORABLE BOUNDARY LAYER SHEAR CONDITIONS FOR A
TORNADO THREAT. AN ISOLATED TORNADO AND WIND DAMAGE THREAT SHOULD
OCCUR WITH BOWING STRUCTURES ON THE LEADING EDGE OF THE LINE. A
TORNADO WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE WITH ROTATING DISCRETE CELLS AHEAD OF
THE LINE THOUGH THE TORNADO THREAT IS QUESTIONABLE DUE TO THE
MARGINAL INSTABILITY. THE NEED FOR A NEW WATCH IS UNCERTAIN ATTM.
..BROYLES.. 03/03/2012
...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT...
ATTN...WFO...MHX...RAH...ILM...CHS...CAE...GSP...FFC...
LAT...LON 36057931 35258100 33798299 32968296 32668257 32768189
33668071 34517936 35417753 36117740 36437793 36057931SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2, 8:15 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Catoosa, Dade, Fannin, Gilmer, Murray, Rabun and 4 more | 90 min |
| Mar 2, 8:18 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Dade | 57 min |
| Mar 2, 9:36 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baker, Calhoun, Colquitt, Cook, Decatur, Dougherty and 6 more | 54 min |
| Mar 2, 10:54 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Catoosa and 61 more | 6 hr |
| Mar 2, 11:07 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Carroll, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas and 13 more | 113 min |
| Mar 3, 12:40 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Clarke and 30 more | 95 min |
| Mar 3, 4:39 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Burke, Columbia, Lincoln, McDuffie, Richmond | 4 hr |
| Mar 3, 5:47 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baker, Berrien, Brooks, Calhoun, Clay, Colquitt and 18 more | 58 min |
| Mar 3, 7:35 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Ben Hill, Berrien and 49 more | 6 hr |
| Mar 3, 10:12 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks and 24 more | 93 min |
| Mar 3, 12:45 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brantley, Brooks, Camden, Charlton, Clinch, Echols and 3 more | 60 min |
| Mar 3, 1:04 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Atkinson, Brantley, Brooks, Camden, Charlton, Clinch and 12 more | 5 hr |
| Mar 3, 4:30 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Charlton | 90 min |
Nearby
Mesoscale Discussions in North Carolina, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in South Carolina, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Georgia, 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.