Alert archive / Louisiana / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 242

March 11, 201216 parishes in Louisiana; 4 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Mar 11, 2012, 2:47 PM CDT for 16 parishes in Louisiana; 4 counties in Texas. It was in force for 118 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 11, 2012, 2:47 PM CDT (19:47 UTC)
Expired
Mar 11, 2012, 4:45 PM CDT
In force
118 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Allen Parish, LA, Beauregard Parish, LA, Bienville Parish, LA, Calcasieu Parish, LA, De Soto Parish, LA, Grant Parish, LA, Jackson Parish, LA, LaSalle Parish, LA, Lincoln Parish, LA, Natchitoches Parish, LA, Rapides Parish, LA, Red River Parish, LA, Sabine Parish, LA, Vernon Parish, LA, Webster Parish, LA, Winn Parish, LA, Jasper County, TX, Newton County, TX, Orange County, TX, Sabine County, TX

The watches that followed

Watches SPC issued over any of the same counties within four hours of this discussion.

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 124 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2012-03-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 182 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2012-03-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 246 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
182 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-71 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
452 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
246 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
294 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

274 
ACUS11 KWNS 111947
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 111947 
LAZ000-TXZ000-112145-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0242
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0247 PM CDT SUN MAR 11 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...ERN TX THROUGH WRN LA

CONCERNING...TORNADO WATCH 71...

VALID 111947Z - 112145Z

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR TORNADO WATCH 71 CONTINUES.

THREAT FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES AND DAMAGING WIND WILL PERSIST THIS
AFTERNOON FROM SERN TX INTO WRN LA. THE GREATEST RISK FOR ISOLATED
TORNADOES THROUGH 22Z IS EXPECTED FROM SERN TX NEWD THROUGH SWRN AND
CNTRL LA.

STORMS DEVELOPING ALONG PRE-FRONTAL CONVERGENCE AXIS FROM EXTREME NW
LA INTO SERN TX CONTINUE TO SHOW OCCASIONAL UPDRAFT ROTATION AND
LEWP STRUCTURES...BUT SO FAR HAVE MOSTLY REMAINED BELOW SEVERE
LEVELS. PRIMARY LIMITING FACTOR HAS BEEN WEAK LOW-MID LEVEL LAPSE
RATES WHICH HAVE RESULTED IN MARGINAL INSTABILITY AND MODEST UPDRAFT
ACCELERATIONS. NEVERTHELESS...0-1 KM HODOGRAPHS WITH 200-250 M2/S2
STORM RELATIVE HELICITY AND LOW LCLS WILL REMAIN SUFFICIENT FOR A
THREAT OF ISOLATED TORNADOES AS THE LLJ SHIFTS SLOWLY NEWD THROUGH
THETA-E AXIS ACROSS WRN CNTRL LA NEXT FEW HOURS.

..DIAL.. 03/11/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...LCH...SHV...

LAT...LON   29989438 31519396 32829347 32819225 31549215 29929323
            29989438

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 11, 11:31 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBossier, Caddo, De Soto, Red River, Sabine89 min
Mar 11, 11:55 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAllen, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Calcasieu and 18 more7 hr
Mar 11, 5:36 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAvoyelles, Caldwell, Catahoula, Concordia, East Carroll, Franklin and 12 more84 min
Mar 11, 6:42 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAcadia, Allen, Avoyelles, Caldwell, Cameron, Catahoula and 20 more8 hr
Mar 11, 7:56 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAngelina, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Hardin and 15 more3 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Louisiana, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Texas, 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.