Alert archive / Mississippi / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 317

March 21, 20127 parishes in Louisiana; 26 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Mar 21, 2012, 12:19 PM CDT for 7 parishes in Louisiana; 26 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 86 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 21, 2012, 12:19 PM CDT (17:19 UTC)
Expired
Mar 21, 2012, 1:45 PM CDT
In force
86 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 33 counties

Jefferson Parish, LA, Lafourche Parish, LA, Orleans Parish, LA, Plaquemines Parish, LA, Saint Bernard Parish, LA, Saint Tammany Parish, LA, Washington Parish, LA, Covington County, MS, Forrest County, MS, George County, MS, Greene County, MS, Hancock County, MS, Harrison County, MS, Hinds County, MS, Jasper County, MS, Jefferson Davis County, MS, Jones County, MS, Lamar County, MS, Lawrence County, MS, Leake County, MS, Madison County, MS, Marion County, MS, Newton County, MS, Pearl River County, MS, Perry County, MS, Rankin County, MS, Scott County, MS, Sharkey County, MS, Simpson County, MS, Smith County, MS, Stone County, MS, Walthall County, MS, Yazoo County, MS

The radar

The Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 72 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:21 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 nearest sounding before it

Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 12:00Z, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 77 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, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 2012-03-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 143 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, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 2012-03-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 239 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
143 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
559 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
239 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
239 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

555 
ACUS11 KWNS 211719
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 211719 
MSZ000-LAZ000-211845-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0317
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1219 PM CDT WED MAR 21 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...FAR EASTERN LA TO CENTRAL/SOUTHERN MS

CONCERNING...TORNADO WATCH 97...

VALID 211719Z - 211845Z

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR TORNADO WATCH 97 CONTINUES.

TORNADO WATCH 97 CONTINUES UNTIL 23Z...WITH CONTINUED POTENTIAL FOR
TORNADOES AND WIND DAMAGE...ESPECIALLY ACROSS FAR SOUTHEAST
LA/SOUTHERN MS.

GENERAL NORTH-SOUTH ORIENTED QUASI-LINEAR CONVECTIVE SYSTEM...WITH
EMBEDDED BOWS/SUPERCELLS...CONTINUES TO GRADUALLY PROGRESS
EAST-NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS SOUTHWEST/WEST-CENTRAL MS AND SOUTHEAST LA
EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. CLOUD BREAKS/STRONGER HEATING ARE EVIDENT
ACROSS EXTREME SOUTHEAST LA INTO SOUTHEAST MS...BUT THE AIRMASS DOES
CONTINUE TO OTHERWISE WARM/MOISTEN INTO CENTRAL MS PER SURFACE
OBSERVATIONAL TRENDS. THE JACKSON MS AND NEW ORLEANS WSR-88D VWPS
ARE BOTH INDICATIVE OF RELATIVELY STRONG/CURVING HODOGRAPHS...WITH
STRONG NEAR-SURFACE SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS BENEATH NEARLY
UNIDIRECTIONAL BUT STRONG DEEP SOUTHERLY FLOW ABOVE 1 KM. WITH A
SURFACE PRESSURE RISE/FALL COUPLET EVIDENT...THIS CONTINUES TO
SUPPORT AN ORGANIZED QUASI-LINEAR CONVECTIVE MODE WITH EMBEDDED
SUPERCELLS/BOWING STRUCTURES AS THE QLCS OTHERWISE SPREADS
EAST-NORTHEAST. THE MOST AGGRESSIVE FORWARD PROPAGATION/PERHAPS A
CORRIDOR OF SEMI-FOCUSED SEVERE MAY CONTINUE TO OCCUR NEAR THE LA/MS
BORDER VICINITY EAST OF I-55...WHERE THE QLCS IS INTERCEPTING
ADDITIONAL WARM ADVECTION SHOWERS/FEW TSTMS IN VICINITY OF A
DIFFERENTIAL HEATING BOUNDARY/INSTABILITY GRADIENT. LASTLY...IN THE
WAKE OF THE QLCS...ADDITIONAL TSTMS HAVE INCREASED ABOUT 75-90 MILES
BEHIND THE PRIMARY CONVECTIVE LINE. THE MAJORITY OF THIS IS
OCCURRING ATOP A SURFACE STABILIZED COLD POOL...WITH SOME HAIL
POSSIBLE.

..GUYER.. 03/21/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...MOB...JAN...LIX...

LAT...LON   32899084 33199041 32728921 31088851 29178907 29269046
            31029015 32499060 32899084

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 20, 8:02 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBeauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Vernon4 hr
Mar 20, 10:23 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis, Natchitoches, Vernon67 min
Mar 20, 10:59 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAcadia, Allen, Beauregard, Bienville, Calcasieu, Caldwell and 17 more7 hr
Mar 21, 2:17 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAcadia, Avoyelles, Caldwell, Catahoula, Concordia, Evangeline and 17 more118 min
Mar 21, 4:38 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAscension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Catahoula, Concordia, East Baton Rouge and 19 more97 min
Mar 21, 5:04 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAcadia, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Caldwell, Catahoula and 33 more7 hr
Mar 21, 7:48 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAscension, Assumption, Avoyelles, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville and 10 more87 min
Mar 21, 9:25 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAscension, Concordia, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Franklin and 17 more95 min
Mar 21, 10:07 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAscension, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Franklin, Jefferson, Lafourche and 17 more8 hr
Mar 21, 3:47 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCSaint Bernard88 min
Mar 21, 5:40 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCOrleans, Plaquemines, Saint Bernard35 min
Mar 21, 6:02 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCPlaquemines, Saint Bernard9 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Mississippi, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Louisiana, 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.