Alert archive / Texas / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 795

May 12, 20124 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 12, 2012, 4:20 PM CDT for 4 counties in Texas. It was in force for 55 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 12, 2012, 4:20 PM CDT (21:20 UTC)
Expired
May 12, 2012, 5:15 PM CDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
5%

Counties Brooks County, TX, Cameron County, TX, Hidalgo County, TX, Willacy County, TX

The radar

The Brownsville radar (KBRO), 89 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:22 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

Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 92 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, Brownsville Intl, TX at 12:00Z on 2012-05-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3455 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Brownsville Intl, TX at 12:00Z on 2012-05-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 45 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
3455 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
477 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
45 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
9 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

215 
ACUS11 KWNS 122120
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 122120 
TXZ000-122215-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0795
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0420 PM CDT SAT MAY 12 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...A SMALL PART OF DEEP SOUTH TX

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH UNLIKELY 

VALID 122120Z - 122215Z

PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...5 PERCENT

SUMMARY...AN ISOLATED SVR THREAT WILL PERSIST INTO EARLY EVENING.
THE SPARSE COVERAGE AND BRIEF DURATION OF THE THREAT WILL PRECLUDE
THE ISSUANCE OF A WW.

DISCUSSION...ISOLATED CONVECTION HAS DEVELOPED OVER PARTS OF WILLACY
COUNTY OWING TO LOW-LEVEL ASCENT ATTENDANT TO THE GULF BREEZE
CIRCULATION THAT HAS BEEN SHIFTING INLAND PER CU LINE EVIDENT IN
VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY. WITH BROWNSVILLE VWP DATA SUGGESTING
SFC-6-KM BULK SHEAR OF 33 KT...CONVECTION HAS EXHIBITED SOME
ORGANIZATION MAINLY CHARACTERIZED BY A MULTICELLULAR MODE. GIVEN
STEEP LOW-LEVEL LAPSE RATES AND APPRECIABLE BUOYANCY NEAR AND WEST
OF THE GULF BREEZE...OWING TO TEMPERATURES IN THE LOWER
90S...NOTABLE WWD/SWWD PROPAGATION HAS BEEN NOTED AS CONVECTION
REGENERATES OVER THE WRN/SWRN FLANKS OF STORM-INDUCED COLD POOLS. AS
SUCH...CONVECTION MAY APPROACH THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY AND BE
ASSOCIATED WITH A DMGG WIND THREAT GIVEN DCAPE VALUES IN EXCESS OF
1200 J/KG...ALONG WITH A THREAT FOR MARGINALLY SVR HAIL. AS
NOCTURNAL STABILIZATION OCCURS BY EARLY EVENING...THE THREAT WILL
SUBSIDE IN THE ABSENCE OF STRONGER FORCING FOR ASCENT.

..COHEN/WEISS.. 05/12/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...BRO...

LAT...LON   26269876 26669872 27059822 27139773 26749753 26069733
            25939761 26009805 26269876

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 11, 7:28 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAustin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Hardin, Harris and 10 more32 min
May 11, 7:36 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBrazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Hardin, Harris and 11 more6 hr
May 11, 10:31 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Hardin, Harris and 11 more89 min
May 12, 1:40 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Hardin, Harris and 11 more65 min

Nearby

Mesoscale 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.