Alert archive / Minnesota / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 547

April 15, 201219 counties in Minnesota; 16 counties in South Dakota

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Apr 15, 2012, 12:25 PM CDT for 19 counties in Minnesota; 16 counties in South Dakota. It was in force for 65 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 15, 2012, 12:25 PM CDT (17:25 UTC)
Expired
Apr 15, 2012, 1:30 PM CDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 35 counties

Benton County, MN, Big Stone County, MN, Chippewa County, MN, Douglas County, MN, Kandiyohi County, MN, Lac qui Parle County, MN, Lincoln County, MN, Lyon County, MN, Meeker County, MN, Mille Lacs County, MN, Pipestone County, MN, Pope County, MN, Renville County, MN, Sherburne County, MN, Stearns County, MN, Stevens County, MN, Swift County, MN, Wright County, MN, Yellow Medicine County, MN, Brookings County, SD, Clark County, SD, Codington County, SD, Davison County, SD, Deuel County, SD, Grant County, SD, Hamlin County, SD, Hanson County, SD, Hutchinson County, SD, Kingsbury County, SD, Lake County, SD, McCook County, SD, Miner County, SD, Minnehaha County, SD, Moody County, SD, Sanborn County, SD

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 143 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:27 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

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 12:00Z, 5.4 hours before the alert went out and 177 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, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 2012-04-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 2012-04-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 91 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
484 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
656 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

260 
ACUS11 KWNS 151725
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 151725 
MNZ000-SDZ000-151830-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0547
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1225 PM CDT SUN APR 15 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...ERN SD INTO CNTRL MN

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH UNLIKELY 

VALID 151725Z - 151830Z

A FEW STORMS MAY CONTAIN SMALL TO PERHAPS MARGINALLY SVR HAIL INTO
THE AFTERNOON ACROSS ERN SD INTO CNTRL MN. THE ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED
TO REMAIN ELEVATED...WITH THE THREAT FOR ANY SVR STORMS BEING
MARGINAL AND ISOLATED. ACCORDINGLY...THE ISSUANCE OF A WW IS
UNLIKELY.

ELEVATED CONVECTION CONTINUES TO DEVELOP/SLOWLY INTENSIFY WITHIN THE
WARM CONVEYOR BELT EAST OF A MID-LEVEL VORT CENTER OVER CNTRL
NEB...AND A REGION OF DCVA NORTHEAST OF THE VORT. SIOUX FALLS VWP
DATA INDICATE THE STRONG WAA PATTERN WITH WINDS ABRUPTLY VEERING
WITH HEIGHT ABOVE THE SFC. STORMS MAY INTENSIFY AS THEY ENCOUNTER A
PLUME OF STEEP MID-LEVEL LAPSE RATES SITUATED OVER FAR ERN SD INTO
CNTRL MN...AND POSE A THREAT FOR SMALL TO PERHAPS MARGINALLY SVR
HAIL GIVEN EFFECTIVE BULK SHEAR MAGNITUDES OF 30-45 KT JUXTAPOSED
WITH MUCAPE VALUES OF 250-1000 J/KG. HOWEVER...THESE STORMS ARE
EXPECTED TO REMAIN ELEVATED...AS THE SFC WARM FRONT TO THE SOUTH
EXPERIENCES LITTLE NWD MOTION. AS SUCH...THE THREAT FOR SVR WIND
GUSTS WILL REMAIN VERY LOW. WITH ONLY ISOLATED INCIDENTS OF
MARGINALLY SVR HAIL EXPECTED OWING TO THE LACK OF GREATER
BUOYANCY...THE ISSUANCE OF A WW IS UNLIKELY.

..COHEN.. 04/15/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...MPX...FGF...FSD...ABR...

LAT...LON   45389729 45999569 46039365 45529341 45189374 44269584
            43469664 43239760 43799842 44649816 45389729

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 14, 7:51 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCNobles, Pipestone, Rock84 min
Apr 15, 1:56 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlue Earth, Brown, Carver, Cottonwood, Dakota, Dodge and 18 more94 min
Apr 15, 3:37 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAnoka, Blue Earth, Brown, Carver, Chippewa, Chisago and 37 more7 hr
Apr 15, 5:54 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnoka, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey and 3 more96 min
Apr 15, 1:18 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay87 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Minnesota, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in South Dakota, 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.