Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 681

May 3, 2012Washington County, Maryland; Allegany County, New York; 20 counties in Pennsylvania

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 3, 2012, 5:45 PM EDT for Washington County, Maryland; Allegany County, New York; 20 counties in Pennsylvania. It was in force for 60 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 3, 2012, 5:45 PM EDT (21:45 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 2012, 6:45 PM EDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
20%
All 22 counties

Washington County, MD, Allegany County, NY, Bradford County, PA, Cameron County, PA, Centre County, PA, Clinton County, PA, Columbia County, PA, Cumberland County, PA, Franklin County, PA, Fulton County, PA, Huntingdon County, PA, Juniata County, PA, Lycoming County, PA, Mifflin County, PA, Montour County, PA, Northumberland County, PA, Perry County, PA, Potter County, PA, Snyder County, PA, Sullivan County, PA, Tioga County, PA, Union County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 54 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:49 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

Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 220 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, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 2012-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 2012-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 141 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
763 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
141 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
159 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

275 
ACUS11 KWNS 032145
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 032145 
PAZ000-NYZ000-MDZ000-WVZ000-032245-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0681
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0445 PM CDT THU MAY 03 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...WRN NY...CNTRL PA

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH UNLIKELY 

VALID 032145Z - 032245Z

PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...20 PERCENT

SUMMARY...A FEW STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS WRN NY
INTO CNTRL PA THIS EVENING...GENERALLY WEAKENING AFTER DARK. DUE TO
THE GENERALLY ISOLATED NATURE...A WW IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS APPEAR TO HAVE INITIATED IN RESPONSE TO
THE WRN EDGE OF YESTERDAYS EXITING UPPER DISTURBANCE...AND A SUBTLE
WAVE NOW LOCATED ON 2130Z WV IMAGERY OVER WRN NY AND N CNTRL PA.
SEASONABLY WARM TEMPERATURES AND A MOIST AIR MASS CHARACTERIZED BY
SURFACE DEW POINTS IN THE 60S IN COMBINATION WITH COOLER
TEMPERATURES ALOFT ARE SUPPORTING OCCASIONALLY STRONG
UPDRAFTS...GENERALLY OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF CNTRL PA.
HOWEVER...DEEP LAYER WINDS REMAIN WEAK...SUPPORTING MAINLY PULSE
TYPE STORMS AND SMALL CLUSTERS. A SEMI-ORGANIZED COLD POOL APPEARS
TO BE DEVELOPING IN CNTRL PA...WHICH MAY FAVOR DMGG WIND GUSTS AND
NEAR SEVERE HAIL AS IT ARCS TO THE SSE TOWARDS GREATER INSTABILITY.
ATTM...LIMITED COVERAGE OF SEVERE STORMS WILL PRECLUDE A WW
ISSUANCE. STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO WEAKEN AFTER THE ONSET OF DIURNAL
COOLING.

..HURLBUT/THOMPSON.. 05/03/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...BGM...BUF...CTP...LWX...

LAT...LON   42407786 41977640 41277615 40697658 39567746 39547822
            40577823 42087828 42407786

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Pennsylvania, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Maryland, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in New York, 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.