Alert archive / Florida / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 232

March 3, 20128 counties in Florida; Charlton County, Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Mar 3, 2012, 4:30 PM EST for 8 counties in Florida; Charlton County, Georgia. It was in force for 90 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 3, 2012, 4:30 PM EST (21:30 UTC)
Expired
Mar 3, 2012, 6:00 PM EST
In force
90 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Baker County, FL, Columbia County, FL, Hamilton County, FL, Lafayette County, FL, Nassau County, FL, Suwannee County, FL, Taylor County, FL, Union County, FL, Charlton County, GA

The nearest sounding before it

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 100 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2012-03-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 499 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2012-03-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 257 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
499 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
472 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
257 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
283 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
4.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

373 
ACUS11 KWNS 032130
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 032130 
FLZ000-GAZ000-032300-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0232
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0330 PM CST SAT MAR 03 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...NRN FL...SE GA

CONCERNING...TORNADO WATCH 69...

VALID 032130Z - 032300Z

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR TORNADO WATCH 69 CONTINUES.

VIGOROUS CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATED WITH ONE DISTINCT WEAK
SURFACE LOW/MID-LEVEL WAVE HAS SHIFTED EAST OF GEORGIA/SOUTH
CAROLINA COASTAL AREAS.  HOWEVER...SOME RECENT INTENSIFICATION OF
CONVECTION APPEARS TO BE ONGOING TO THE WEST OF THE FLORIDA BIG BEND
REGION...PERHAPS IN ASSOCIATION WITH ANOTHER WEAK MID-LEVEL WAVE
APPROACHING THE REGION IN FAST SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT... AHEAD OF
THE MORE SIGNIFICANT TROUGH DIGGING TOWARD THE WESTERN GULF COAST. 
IT IS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION THAT THIS ACTIVITY COULD STILL POSE
THE RISK FOR POTENTIALLY DAMAGING WIND GUSTS OR AN ISOLATED
TORNADO...WHILE DEVELOPING INLAND ACROSS NORTHERN FLORIDA BETWEEN
NOW AND 23-00Z.  WEST SOUTHWESTERLY 850 MB WINDS ACROSS THE REGION
REMAIN AT AROUND 40-50 KT...CONTRIBUTING TO STRONG LOW-LEVEL SHEAR
AND POTENTIALLY FAST CELL MOTIONS.

..KERR.. 03/03/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...JAX...TAE...

LAT...LON   30008451 30198402 30388365 30498309 30758260 30878174
            30588151 30158196 29848326 29838372 29638474 30008451

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 2, 11:56 PM ESTTornado WatchSPCEscambia6 hr
Mar 3, 5:47 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBay, Calhoun, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf and 10 more58 min
Mar 3, 7:35 AM ESTTornado WatchSPCBay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Hamilton and 9 more6 hr
Mar 3, 10:12 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBay, Calhoun, Gadsden, Hamilton, Jefferson, Leon and 3 more93 min
Mar 3, 12:45 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Duval and 15 more60 min
Mar 3, 1:04 PM ESTTornado WatchSPCAlachua, Baker, Bradford, Calhoun, Clay, Columbia and 17 more5 hr
Mar 2, 8:15 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCatoosa, Dade, Fannin, Gilmer, Murray, Rabun and 4 more90 min
Mar 2, 8:18 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDade57 min
Mar 2, 9:36 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Calhoun, Colquitt, Cook, Decatur, Dougherty and 6 more54 min
Mar 2, 10:54 PM ESTTornado WatchSPCBanks, Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Catoosa and 61 more6 hr
Mar 2, 11:07 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCarroll, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas and 13 more113 min
Mar 3, 12:40 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBanks, Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Clarke and 30 more95 min
Mar 3, 3:58 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBurke, Columbia, Glascock, Jefferson, Jenkins, Lincoln and 6 more92 min
Mar 3, 4:39 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBurke, Columbia, Lincoln, McDuffie, Richmond4 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Florida, 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.