Alert archive / Nebraska / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 679

May 3, 20124 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 3, 2012, 3:41 PM CDT for 4 states. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 3, 2012, 3:41 PM CDT (20:41 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 2012, 5:45 PM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
60%
All 51 counties

Adair County, IA, Adams County, IA, Cass County, IA, Clarke County, IA, Fremont County, IA, Madison County, IA, Mills County, IA, Montgomery County, IA, Page County, IA, Pottawattamie County, IA, Ringgold County, IA, Taylor County, IA, Union County, IA, Jewell County, KS, Marshall County, KS, Phillips County, KS, Republic County, KS, Smith County, KS, Washington County, KS, Atchison County, MO, Holt County, MO, Nodaway County, MO, Worth County, MO, Adams County, NE, Butler County, NE, Cass County, NE, Clay County, NE, Douglas County, NE, Fillmore County, NE, Franklin County, NE, Gage County, NE, Hall County, NE, Hamilton County, NE, Harlan County, NE, Jefferson County, NE, Johnson County, NE, Kearney County, NE, Lancaster County, NE, Nemaha County, NE, Nuckolls County, NE, Otoe County, NE, Pawnee County, NE, Phelps County, NE, Richardson County, NE, Saline County, NE, Sarpy County, NE, Saunders County, NE, Seward County, NE, Thayer County, NE, Webster County, NE, York County, NE

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 114 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:41 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

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 114 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2012-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 497 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2012-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 75 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
497 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-269 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1132 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
75 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
15 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

601 
ACUS11 KWNS 032041
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 032041 
IAZ000-MOZ000-NEZ000-KSZ000-032245-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0679
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0341 PM CDT THU MAY 03 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...SERN NEB...FAR N-CNTRL KS...SWRN IA

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH POSSIBLE 

VALID 032041Z - 032245Z

PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...60 PERCENT

SUMMARY...INCREASING POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SERN
NEB...FAR N-CNTRL KS AND SWRN IA. WW MAY BE NEEDED FOR PORTIONS OF
THIS AREA IN THE NEXT 1 TO 2 HOURS.

DISCUSSION...SURFACE OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS INDICATES SURFACE-BASED CINH
HAS ERODED ALONG A CORRIDOR FROM N-CNTRL KS NEWD INTO SWRN IA INVOF
A WEAK PRE-FRONTAL TROUGH. TEMPERATURES IN THE 80S AND DEWPOINTS IN
THE UPPER 60S TO LOW 70S BELOW STEEP MID-LEVEL LAPSE RATES HAVE
RESULTED IN A VERY UNSTABLE AIR MASS /SBCAPE VALUES AOA 3000 J/KG /
ACROSS THE AREA. INCREASING THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE IS ANTICIPATED AS
THE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED PRE-FRONTAL TROUGH PROGRESSES SLOWLY SEWD.
ELY/ESELY STORM MOTION WILL TAKE ANY STORMS THAT DEVELOP INTO A MORE
UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT WITH BULK SHEAR FORECAST TO INCREASE. FORECAST
GUIDANCE SUGGESTS THE POTENTIAL FOR GREATER STORM COVERAGE E WITHIN
THE INSTABILITY AXIS INTO THE EVENING. STORMS IN THIS ENVIRONMENT
WILL POSE A THREAT OF LARGE HAIL/DAMAGING WINDS AND A WATCH MAY BE
NEEDED.

..MOSIER/BUNTING/CARBIN.. 05/03/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...DMX...EAX...OAX...TOP...GID...GLD...

LAT...LON   40119512 39679691 39489828 39409880 39399925 39519972
            40039983 40389972 40579940 40779889 41309693 41519543
            41579448 41529394 41249360 40569399 40119512

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 10:43 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHarrison, Monona, Plymouth, Sioux, Woodbury62 min
May 3, 12:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdams, Cass, Fremont, Mills, Montgomery, Page and 2 more4 hr
May 3, 3:05 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Adams, Cass, Clarke, Decatur, Montgomery and 4 more85 min
May 3, 2:12 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBuena Vista, Calhoun, Cerro Gordo, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson and 18 more2 hr
May 3, 6:42 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAppanoose, Davis, Decatur, Des Moines, Henry, Lee and 5 more63 min
May 2, 7:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCGraham, Jewell, Mitchell, Norton, Osborne, Phillips and 2 more6 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Nebraska, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Iowa, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Kansas, 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.