Alert archive / Texas / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 279

March 18, 20128 counties in Oklahoma; 13 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Mar 18, 2012, 9:10 PM CDT for 8 counties in Oklahoma; 13 counties in Texas. It was in force for 35 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 18, 2012, 9:10 PM CDT (02:10 UTC)
Expired
Mar 18, 2012, 9:45 PM CDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 21 counties

Beckham County, OK, Ellis County, OK, Greer County, OK, Harmon County, OK, Jackson County, OK, Roger Mills County, OK, Washita County, OK, Woodward County, OK, Childress County, TX, Collingsworth County, TX, Cottle County, TX, Crosby County, TX, Dickens County, TX, Donley County, TX, Floyd County, TX, Hall County, TX, Hardeman County, TX, Hemphill County, TX, Lipscomb County, TX, Motley County, TX, Wheeler County, TX

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 129 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:10 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

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 128 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 2012-03-19Temperature 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 2012-03-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 32 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
4154 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
93 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.

679 
ACUS11 KWNS 190211
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 190210
OKZ000-TXZ000-190245-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0279
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0910 PM CDT SUN MAR 18 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...ERN TX PANHANDLE INTO WRN OK

CONCERNING...TORNADO WATCH 80...

VALID 190210Z - 190245Z

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR TORNADO WATCH 80 CONTINUES.

ONLY ONE SEVERE STORM REMAINS OVER THE ERN TX PANHANDLE WITH LARGE
HAIL THE MAIN THREAT. TORNADO WATCH 80 IS SCHEDULED TO EXPIRE AT
03Z...BUT CAN BE LOCALLY EXTENDED FOR A FEW COUNTIES IF NECESSARY.
OTHERWISE...THE OVERALL SEVERE THREAT WILL DECREASE ON A TEMPORARY
BASIS BEFORE INCREASING AGAIN SOMETIME AFTER 04Z OVER PORTIONS OF
WRN TX.

INCREASING CONVECTIVE INHIBITION RESULTING BOUNDARY LAYER COOLING
BENEATH A WARM EML HAS CONTRIBUTED TO A GRADUAL DECREASE IN STORM
COVERAGE AND INTENSIFY. ONE SEVERE STORM REMAINS OVER THE ERN TX
PANHANDLE AND IS BEING FORCED WITHIN ZONE OF LOCALIZED CONVERGENCE
ALONG RETREATING DRYLINE. COVERAGE OF SEVERE STORMS IS EXPECTED TO
REMAIN VERY ISOLATED THIS EVENING UNTIL AFTER 04Z WHEN ADDITIONAL
STORMS MAY DEVELOP AS DEEPER BAROCLINIC ZONE BEGINS TO OVERTAKE THE
DRYLINE.

..DIAL.. 03/19/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...OUN...LUB...AMA...

LAT...LON   36780018 36809960 36349916 35229895 34069962 33420105
            33550180 34250137 35150080 36190049 36780018

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 18, 7:37 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaver, Beckham, Ellis, Greer, Harmon, Jackson and 2 more53 min
Mar 18, 11:37 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaver, Ellis, Harper53 min
Mar 19, 1:37 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeckham, Greer, Harmon, Jackson, Roger Mills83 min
Mar 19, 1:56 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAlfalfa, Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Comanche and 19 more4 hr
Mar 19, 3:34 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlfalfa, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland, Comanche and 21 more86 min
Mar 19, 10:05 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtoka, Bryan, Carter, Cleveland, Coal, Garvin and 15 more115 min
Mar 19, 2:15 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBryan, Love, Marshall90 min
Mar 19, 3:55 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Atoka, Bryan, Cherokee, Choctaw, Coal and 14 more95 min
Mar 19, 4:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdair, Atoka, Bryan, Cherokee, Choctaw, Coal and 11 more5 hr
Mar 19, 6:32 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Atoka, Bryan, Cherokee, Choctaw, Coal and 9 more58 min
Mar 19, 6:53 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAdair, Cherokee, Choctaw, Delaware, Haskell, Latimer and 6 more5 hr
Mar 18, 10:09 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAndrews, Borden, Crane, Crosby, Dawson, Ector and 13 more96 min
Mar 18, 10:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAndrews, Borden, Briscoe, Castro, Childress, Coke and 39 more11 hr
Mar 18, 11:23 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBriscoe, Crosby, Floyd, Garza, Hale, Hall and 6 more4 hr
Mar 19, 4:13 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCoke, Fisher, Foard, Glasscock, Haskell, Howard and 16 more92 min
Mar 19, 4:39 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCallahan, Coke, Coleman, Concho, Crockett, Fisher and 22 more7 hr
Mar 19, 10:46 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCallahan, Coke, Irion, Jones, Nolan, Runnels and 4 more89 min
Mar 19, 2:39 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBandera, Blanco, Bosque, Brown, Burnet, Coleman and 42 more7 hr
Mar 19, 6:05 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtascosa, Bandera, Bastrop, Bexar, Blanco, Bosque and 47 more85 min
Mar 19, 6:21 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAtascosa, Bandera, Bastrop, Bexar, Blanco, Burnet and 26 more7 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Texas, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Oklahoma, 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.