Alert archive / Texas / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 301

March 19, 201234 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Mar 19, 2012, 11:53 PM CDT for 34 counties in Texas. It was in force for 67 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 19, 2012, 11:53 PM CDT (04:53 UTC)
Expired
Mar 20, 2012, 1:00 AM CDT
In force
67 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 34 counties

Atascosa County, TX, Bastrop County, TX, Bell County, TX, Bexar County, TX, Burleson County, TX, Caldwell County, TX, Comal County, TX, Dimmit County, TX, Falls County, TX, Freestone County, TX, Frio County, TX, Gonzales County, TX, Guadalupe County, TX, Hays County, TX, Henderson County, TX, Karnes County, TX, Kaufman County, TX, Kendall County, TX, La Salle County, TX, Lee County, TX, Limestone County, TX, McMullen County, TX, Medina County, TX, Milam County, TX, Navarro County, TX, Rains County, TX, Robertson County, TX, Travis County, TX, Van Zandt County, TX, Webb County, TX, Williamson County, TX, Wilson County, TX, Wood County, TX, Zavala County, TX

The radar

The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 39 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:55 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

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 4.9 hours before the alert went out and 268 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 2012-03-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2851 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 2012-03-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 121 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
2851 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-113 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
778 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
121 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
88 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
3.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

259 
ACUS11 KWNS 200454
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 200453
TXZ000-200600-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0301
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1153 PM CDT MON MAR 19 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...SRN THROUGH NERN TX

CONCERNING...TORNADO WATCH 87...89...

VALID 200453Z - 200600Z

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR TORNADO WATCH 87...89...CONTINUES.

SEVERE THREAT WILL LIKELY CONTINUE THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING ACROSS
THE REMAINING PARTS OF WW 87 AND 89 FROM SRN THROUGH NERN TX. THE
PRIMARY THREATS WILL BE DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL AND VERY HEAVY
RAIN...THOUGH ISOLATED TORNADOES CANNOT BE RULED OUT. BOTH WW 87 AND
89 WILL LIKELY NEED TO BE REPLACED BEFORE THEIR EXPIRATION TIME OF
06Z AND 07Z RESPECTIVELY...POSSIBLY WITH ONE WW.

STORMS WILL CONTINUE DEVELOPING INTO THE EARLY MORNING ALONG THE
EXTENSIVE AND SLOW MOVING OUTFLOW BOUNDARY FROM SRN THROUGH NERN TX
PROMOTED BY MOIST INFLOW FROM THE MODERATELY UNSTABLE WARM SECTOR
AND FORCING FOR DEEP ASCENT ACCOMPANYING AN IMPULSE MOVING THROUGH
BASE OF UPPER TROUGH. THE SHEAR/INSTABILITY PARAMETER SPACE WILL
CONTINUE TO SUPPORT EMBEDDED ORGANIZED STORMS...BUT A STABILIZING
BOUNDARY LAYER AND PREDOMINANT LINEAR MODE SUGGEST THE PRIMARY
SEVERE THREATS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND. HOWEVER...LARGE
HODOGRAPHS WILL PERSIST ALONG LLJ EAST OF THE LINE...AND ISOLATED
TORNADOES REMAIN POSSIBLE WITH MORE ORGANIZED EMBEDDED SUPERCELL
STRUCTURES.

..DIAL.. 03/20/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...SHV...HGX...FWD...CRP...EWX...

LAT...LON   28470023 29349948 30559802 31099756 32999600 32869503
            29059753 27489935 28470023

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 19, 7:28 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAnderson, Bell, Bowie, Camp, Cass, Cherokee and 30 more9 hr
Mar 19, 8:22 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBandera, Bell, Bexar, Blanco, Burnet, Comal and 30 more53 min
Mar 19, 9:46 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBandera, Bell, Blanco, Burnet, Coryell, Ellis and 18 more119 min
Mar 20, 12:48 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAransas, Atascosa, Austin, Bastrop, Bee, Bexar and 52 more9 hr
Mar 20, 2:43 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAransas, Bee, Calhoun, Colorado, DeWitt, Duval and 13 more92 min
Mar 20, 5:26 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrazoria, Calhoun, Fort Bend, Harris, Liberty, Matagorda and 3 more2 hr
Mar 20, 9:03 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChambers, Galveston, Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty and 6 more87 min
Mar 20, 9:46 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCHardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Newton, Orange, Sabine and 3 more7 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.