Alert archive / Tennessee / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 398

March 31, 20124 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Mar 31, 2012, 3:02 PM CDT for 4 states. It was in force for 58 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 31, 2012, 3:02 PM CDT (20:02 UTC)
Expired
Mar 31, 2012, 4:00 PM CDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 68 counties

Colbert County, AL, Jackson County, AL, Lauderdale County, AL, Lawrence County, AL, Limestone County, AL, Madison County, AL, Catoosa County, GA, Dade County, GA, Murray County, GA, Walker County, GA, Whitfield County, GA, Alcorn County, MS, Benton County, MS, Marshall County, MS, Prentiss County, MS, Tippah County, MS, Tishomingo County, MS, Bedford County, TN, Benton County, TN, Bledsoe County, TN, Bradley County, TN, Cannon County, TN, Carroll County, TN, Cheatham County, TN, Chester County, TN, Coffee County, TN, Crockett County, TN, Cumberland County, TN, Davidson County, TN, Decatur County, TN, DeKalb County, TN, Dickson County, TN, Dyer County, TN, Fayette County, TN, Franklin County, TN, Gibson County, TN, Giles County, TN, Grundy County, TN, Hamilton County, TN, Hardeman County, TN, Hardin County, TN, Haywood County, TN, Henderson County, TN, Hickman County, TN, Humphreys County, TN, Lauderdale County, TN, Lawrence County, TN, Lewis County, TN, Lincoln County, TN, Madison County, TN, Marion County, TN, Marshall County, TN, Maury County, TN, McNairy County, TN, Meigs County, TN, Moore County, TN, Perry County, TN, Putnam County, TN, Rhea County, TN, Rutherford County, TN, Sequatchie County, TN, Smith County, TN, Van Buren County, TN, Warren County, TN, Wayne County, TN, White County, TN, Williamson County, TN, Wilson County, TN

The radar

The Nashville radar (KOHX), 126 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:03 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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 116 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2012-03-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1321 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2012-03-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 96 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
1321 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
509 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
96 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
52 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.

971 
ACUS11 KWNS 312003
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 312002
TNZ000-GAZ000-ALZ000-MSZ000-MOZ000-ARZ000-312100-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0398
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0302 PM CDT SAT MAR 31 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...WRN/MIDDLE TN...NRN MS...NRN AL...NWRN GA...

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 121...

VALID 312002Z - 312100Z

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 121
CONTINUES.

MULTICELL CLUSTERS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND EXPAND IN COVERAGE OVER
SRN PORTIONS OF MIDDLE TN. THESE STORMS WILL ENTER NRN MS AND NWRN
GA DURING THE NEXT 1 TO 2 HRS. SURFACE TEMPERATURES IN THE MID TO
UPR 70S...DEWPOINTS RANGING FROM LOW-MID 60S IN NRN MS TO MID
50S-NEAR 60 IN NWRN GA...AND STEEP MIDLEVEL LAPSE RATES YIELD MLCAPE
VALUES FROM 1000-2000 J/KG. DEEP-LAYER VERTICAL WIND SHEAR BECOMES
WEAKER WITH SWD EXTENT /I.E. 0-6 KM BULK WIND DIFFERENCE FROM 20-30
KT/...BUT SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT FOR CONTINUED RISK OF LARGE
HAIL/DAMAGING WIND GUSTS GIVEN FAVORABLE THERMODYNAMICS. FARTHER W
OVER WRN TN AND NRN MS...VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS AGITATED
CUMULUS FIELD DEVELOPING IN RESPONSE TO STRONG SURFACE HEATING
/TEMPERATURES IN THE LOW 80S/ AND STEEPENING LOW-LEVEL LAPSE RATES.
GRADUAL INCREASE IN STORM COVERAGE SHOULD OCCUR AS A RESULT THROUGH
THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON. COMBINATION OF MLCAPE VALUES NEAR
2500 J/KG AND EFFECTIVE BULK WIND DIFFERENCE FROM 20-30 KT WILL
FAVOR A FEW SVR MULTICELL THUNDERSTORMS POSING A THREAT FOR LARGE
HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS.

..GARNER.. 03/31/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...MRX...FFC...OHX...HUN...MEG...

LAT...LON   36218965 36308470 34578469 34488965 36218965

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 31, 12:29 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Cullman, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence and 6 more91 min
Mar 31, 12:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCColbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale and 5 more8 hr
Mar 31, 5:00 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Colbert and 22 more30 min
Mar 31, 5:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBlount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Etowah and 12 more3 hr
Mar 31, 6:18 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrooks, Decatur, Grady, Seminole, Thomas117 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Tennessee, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Alabama, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Mississippi, 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.