Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 694

May 4, 20127 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 4, 2012, 1:26 PM EDT for 7 states. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 4, 2012, 1:26 PM EDT (17:26 UTC)
Expired
May 4, 2012, 3:30 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
40%
All 97 counties

Kent County, DE, New Castle County, DE, Sussex County, DE, Allegany County, MD, Anne Arundel County, MD, Baltimore County, MD, Calvert County, MD, Caroline County, MD, Carroll County, MD, Cecil County, MD, Charles County, MD, City of Baltimore, MD, Dorchester County, MD, Frederick County, MD, Harford County, MD, Howard County, MD, Kent County, MD, Montgomery County, MD, Prince George's County, MD, Queen Anne's County, MD, Talbot County, MD, Washington County, MD, Atlantic County, NJ, Camden County, NJ, Cape May County, NJ, Cumberland County, NJ, Gloucester County, NJ, Salem County, NJ, Trumbull County, OH, Adams County, PA, Armstrong County, PA, Bedford County, PA, Berks County, PA, Blair County, PA, Bucks County, PA, Butler County, PA, Cambria County, PA, Cameron County, PA, Carbon County, PA, Centre County, PA, Chester County, PA, Clarion County, PA, Clearfield County, PA, Clinton County, PA, Columbia County, PA, Crawford County, PA, Cumberland County, PA, Dauphin County, PA, Delaware County, PA, Elk County, PA, Forest County, PA, Franklin County, PA, Fulton County, PA, Huntingdon County, PA, Indiana County, PA, Jefferson County, PA, Juniata County, PA, Lancaster County, PA, Lawrence County, PA, Lebanon County, PA, Lehigh County, PA, Luzerne County, PA, Lycoming County, PA, McKean County, PA, Mercer County, PA, Mifflin County, PA, Montgomery County, PA, Montour County, PA, Northumberland County, PA, Perry County, PA, Philadelphia County, PA, Potter County, PA, Schuylkill County, PA, Snyder County, PA, Somerset County, PA, Sullivan County, PA, Tioga County, PA, Union County, PA, Venango County, PA, Warren County, PA, Westmoreland County, PA, York County, PA, Arlington County, VA, City of Alexandria, VA, City of Fairfax, VA, City of Falls Church, VA, City of Manassas, VA, City of Manassas Park, VA, City of Winchester, VA, Clarke County, VA, Fairfax County, VA, Frederick County, VA, Loudoun County, VA, Prince William County, VA, Berkeley County, WV, Jefferson County, WV, Morgan County, WV

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 99 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 nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 5.4 hours before the alert went out and 149 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2012-05-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 891 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2012-05-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 46 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
891 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-164 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
905 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
136 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.

504 
ACUS11 KWNS 041726
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 041726 
NJZ000-PAZ000-DEZ000-MDZ000-DCZ000-VAZ000-WVZ000-NYZ000-OHZ000-041930-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0694
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1226 PM CDT FRI MAY 04 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...FAR NE OHIO...MUCH OF PA...SRN NJ INTO DELMARVA

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH POSSIBLE 

VALID 041726Z - 041930Z

PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...40 PERCENT

SUMMARY...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE
THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS. MAINLY UNORGANIZED CLUSTERS OR
PULSE-TYPE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING MARGINALLY SEVERE
HAIL AND STRONG-TO-SEVERE WIND GUSTS. AREA WILL BE MONITORED FOR A
POSSIBLE WW.

DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING EARLY THIS AFTERNOON FROM
THE NRN CHESAPEAKE INTO CNTRL PA AND NERN OH IN A WARM...MOIST AIR
MASS AHEAD OF A SFC COLD FRONT. THIS COLD FRONT WAS POSITIONED FROM
S-CNTRL NY WWD ACROSS NRN OH. FURTHER S ACROSS CNTRL PA INTO ERN
VA...A SFC TROUGH AND WARM FRONT WAS PROVIDING ADDITIONAL FOCUS FOR
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. AS TEMPERATURES HAVE WARMED THROUGH THE
UPPER 70S INTO THE LOW 80S...MLCAPE VALUES ARE APPROACHING 1000 J/KG
AND ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE TO NEAR 1500-2000 J/KG BY LATER THIS
AFTERNOON. THIS WILL HELP OVERCOME MODEST DEEP LAYER SHEAR OF AROUND
20-30 KT TO SUSTAIN UPDRAFTS. MIDLEVEL LAPSE RATES NEAR 7 C/KM AND
COOL TEMPERATURES ALOFT WILL SUPPORT MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL AND
STRONG/GUSTY WINDS IN MAINLY DISORGANIZED THUNDERSTORM CLUSTERS.

..LEITMAN/MEAD.. 05/04/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...PHI...BGM...AKQ...BUF...CTP...LWX...PBZ...CLE...

LAT...LON   39387441 40067476 40487507 41207575 41717670 42047928
            41898031 41688114 41378119 40938042 39637876 38287727
            38307598 38807508 39347449 39387441

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 4, 4:16 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClermont59 min
May 4, 7:52 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Allen, Athens, Auglaize, Belmont, Brown and 49 more53 min
May 4, 12:19 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBradford, Tioga86 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Pennsylvania, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Maryland, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Virginia, 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.