Alert archive / Illinois / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 731

May 6, 201226 counties in Illinois; 19 counties in Missouri

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 6, 2012, 1:22 PM CDT for 26 counties in Illinois; 19 counties in Missouri. It was in force for 53 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 6, 2012, 1:22 PM CDT (18:22 UTC)
Expired
May 6, 2012, 2:15 PM CDT
In force
53 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
80%
All 45 counties

Adams County, IL, Brown County, IL, Cass County, IL, Fulton County, IL, Grundy County, IL, Hancock County, IL, Knox County, IL, LaSalle County, IL, Livingston County, IL, Logan County, IL, Marshall County, IL, Mason County, IL, McDonough County, IL, McLean County, IL, Menard County, IL, Morgan County, IL, Peoria County, IL, Pike County, IL, Putnam County, IL, Schuyler County, IL, Scott County, IL, Stark County, IL, Tazewell County, IL, Warren County, IL, Will County, IL, Woodford County, IL, Audrain County, MO, Benton County, MO, Boone County, MO, Callaway County, MO, Chariton County, MO, Cooper County, MO, Howard County, MO, Lafayette County, MO, Lewis County, MO, Marion County, MO, Moniteau County, MO, Monroe County, MO, Morgan County, MO, Pettis County, MO, Pike County, MO, Ralls County, MO, Randolph County, MO, Saline County, MO, Shelby County, MO

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 145 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:23 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

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 196 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2012-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2361 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2012-05-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 181 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
2361 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-82 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
571 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
181 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
188 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
9.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

535 
ACUS11 KWNS 061823
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 061822
ILZ000-MOZ000-IAZ000-061915-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0731
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0122 PM CDT SUN MAY 06 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...NRN MO...WRN/NRN IL

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH LIKELY

VALID 061822Z - 061915Z

PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...80 PERCENT

SUMMARY...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD INCREASE IN AREAL COVERAGE
ALONG AN OUTFLOW/FRONTAL ZONE THAT STRETCHES FROM NRN IL INTO NRN MO
OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS.

DISCUSSION...STRONG HEATING IS CONTRIBUTING TO A VERY UNSTABLE
AIRMASS ACROSS PARTS OF THE MID MS VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON WITH A
CORRIDOR OF INSTABILITY ON THE ORDER OF 3000-4000 J/KG ACROSS MO
INTO CNTRL IL.  ALTHOUGH DEEP LAYER SHEAR IS NOT PARTICULARLY
STRONG...IT APPEARS SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY
LIKELY ALONG AN EXTENSIVE OUTFLOW/FRONTAL ZONE THAT STRETCHES FROM
NRN IL...INTO NRN MO.  RECENT CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT ALONG THIS ZONE
JUST EAST OF MCI AND EAST OF MLI SUGGEST A MORE FAVORABLE BOUNDARY
LAYER FOR ROBUST UPDRAFTS.  WITH AN EXPANDING WARM SECTOR CU FIELD
IT APPEARS ADDITIONAL STORMS ARE LIKELY TO DEVELOP WITH A SUBSEQUENT
ESEWD MOVEMENT OFF THE BOUNDARY INTO A VERY BUOYANT AIRMASS.  LARGE
HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED ALONG WITH POTENTIALLY DAMAGING WINDS.  ALONG
THE NRN OUTFLOW ACROSS NRN IL SHEAR PROFILES ARE A BIT MORE
FAVORABLE FOR ROTATING UPDRAFTS AND ISOLATED SUPERCELL DEVELOPMENT
HOWEVER HAIL/WINDS SHOULD PROVE THE DOMINANT THREAT.

..DARROW.. 05/06/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...LOT...ILX...LSX...DVN...SGF...EAX...

LAT...LON   38999401 41338976 41628779 40518836 38199329 38999401

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 6, 8:40 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBureau, Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Knox and 12 more65 min
May 6, 9:29 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBureau, Carroll, Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, Henry and 11 more4 hr
May 6, 1:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdams, Brown, Bureau, Cass, Champaign, Cook and 35 more7 hr
May 6, 3:56 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Brown, Cass, Champaign, DeWitt, Ford and 32 more64 min
May 6, 5:07 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClark, Edgar, Iroquois, Vermilion53 min
May 6, 4:55 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtchison, Nodaway, Worth2 hr
May 6, 2:40 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCPlatte95 min
May 6, 3:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAndrew, Bates, Buchanan, Cass, Clay, Clinton and 10 more7 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Illinois, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Missouri, 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.