Alert archive / Louisiana / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 551

April 15, 20129 counties in Arkansas; 10 parishes in Louisiana; Panola County, Shelby County, Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Apr 15, 2012, 3:44 PM CDT for 9 counties in Arkansas; 10 parishes in Louisiana; Panola County, Shelby County, Texas. It was in force for 91 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 15, 2012, 3:44 PM CDT (20:44 UTC)
Expired
Apr 15, 2012, 5:15 PM CDT
In force
91 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 21 counties

Calhoun County, AR, Clark County, AR, Columbia County, AR, Hempstead County, AR, Lafayette County, AR, Miller County, AR, Nevada County, AR, Ouachita County, AR, Union County, AR, Bienville Parish, LA, Bossier Parish, LA, Caddo Parish, LA, Claiborne Parish, LA, De Soto Parish, LA, Jackson Parish, LA, Lincoln Parish, LA, Red River Parish, LA, Union Parish, LA, Webster Parish, LA, Panola County, TX, Shelby County, TX

The radar

The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 100 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:47 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

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 93 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, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 2012-04-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 784 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, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 2012-04-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 207 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
784 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-163 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
542 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
207 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
266 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.

190 
ACUS11 KWNS 152045
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 152044
LAZ000-ARZ000-TXZ000-152215-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0551
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0344 PM CDT SUN APR 15 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...EXTREME NERN TX...NWRN LA AND SWRN AR

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH POSSIBLE

VALID 152044Z - 152215Z

STORMS COULD INTENSIFY AS THEY DEVELOP THROUGH SWRN AR INTO NWRN LA.
THE PRIMARY THREATS WOULD BE DAMAGING WIND AND HAIL...WITH A
CONDITIONAL THREAT FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES.

STORMS ARE BEGINNING TO DEVELOP CLOSER TO LEADING EDGE OF OUTFLOW
BOUNDARY FROM SWRN AR INTO NERN TX. TEMPERATURES HAVE WARMED INTO
THE LOW 80S SUPPORTING AXIS OF 1000-1500 J/KG MLCAPE DOWNSTREAM FROM
THE LINE.  HOWEVER...CHARACTER OF THE CLOUDS WITH EXTENSIVE
STRATOCUMULUS SUGGESTS A CAPPING INVERSION ALOFT REMAINS...AND
STORMS ARE STILL DEVELOPING ABOVE A LOW CLOUD DECK. THE INCREASE IN
STORMS ALONG AND WEST OF THE OUTFLOW BOUNDARY APPEARS TO BE PARTLY
IN RESPONSE TO FORCING AND DEEPER ASCENT WITHIN UPPER JET ENTRANCE
REGION. THIS ZONE OF ASCENT COULD EVENTUALLY OVERTAKE WRN PORTION OF
WARM SECTOR...CONTRIBUTING TO A WEAKER CAP AND SUGGESTING THAT
STORMS COULD INTENSIFY FURTHER AS THEY DEVELOP EWD. VERTICAL WIND
PROFILES REMAIN STRONG WITH LARGE HODOGRAPHS ALONG LLJ EXPECTED TO
PERSIST INTO EARLY EVENING SUPPORTING THE POTENTIAL FOR ORGANIZED
STORMS INCLUDING BOWING SEGMENTS AND SUPERCELLS.

..DIAL.. 04/15/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...LZK...SHV...

LAT...LON   34199302 33739235 32139218 31709455 32749420 33909371
            34199302

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 15, 6:35 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBenton, Crawford, Madison, Sebastian, Washington85 min
Apr 15, 6:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBenton, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Madison, Sebastian and 1 more4 hr
Apr 15, 9:25 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaxter, Boone, Carroll, Conway, Crawford, Franklin and 22 more95 min
Apr 15, 10:51 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCBaxter, Boone, Carroll, Conway, Crawford, Franklin and 18 more7 hr
Apr 15, 1:38 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaxter, Boone, Carroll, Conway, Crawford, Franklin and 18 more97 min
Apr 15, 4:22 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Bradley, Calhoun, Clay, Cleburne, Cleveland and 29 more83 min
Apr 15, 4:25 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCArkansas, Baxter, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Clay and 49 more6 hr
Apr 14, 10:11 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBorden, Childress, Collingsworth, Cottle, Crosby, Dawson and 17 more34 min
Apr 14, 10:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAndrews, Archer, Baylor, Borden, Briscoe, Callahan and 43 more6 hr
Apr 15, 6:29 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCRefugio, San Patricio91 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Louisiana, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Arkansas, 2012Mesoscale 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.