Alert archive / Kansas / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 837

May 19, 20127 counties in Colorado; 15 counties in Kansas; 5 counties in Nebraska

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 19, 2012, 12:37 PM MDT for 7 counties in Colorado; 15 counties in Kansas; 5 counties in Nebraska. It was in force for 113 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 19, 2012, 12:37 PM MDT (18:37 UTC)
Expired
May 19, 2012, 2:30 PM MDT
In force
113 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
20%
All 27 counties

Baca County, CO, Bent County, CO, Cheyenne County, CO, Kiowa County, CO, Las Animas County, CO, Otero County, CO, Prowers County, CO, Cheyenne County, KS, Decatur County, KS, Gove County, KS, Greeley County, KS, Hamilton County, KS, Kearny County, KS, Logan County, KS, Rawlins County, KS, Scott County, KS, Sheridan County, KS, Sherman County, KS, Stanton County, KS, Thomas County, KS, Wallace County, KS, Wichita County, KS, Chase County, NE, Dundy County, NE, Hayes County, NE, Hitchcock County, NE, Red Willow County, NE

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 34 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:40 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

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 143 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, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2012-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 216 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2012-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -128 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
216 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
820 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-128 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-51 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.

716 
ACUS11 KWNS 191838
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 191837
NEZ000-KSZ000-COZ000-192030-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0837
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0137 PM CDT SAT MAY 19 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...SERN CO THROUGH WRN KS AND SWRN NEB

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH UNLIKELY

VALID 191837Z - 192030Z

PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...20 PERCENT

SUMMARY...ISOLATED STORMS WILL CONTINUE TO POSE A THREAT FOR LARGE
HAIL INTO EARLY EVENING FROM SERN CO THROUGH WRN KS AND SWRN NEB.
DUE TO THE VERY ISOLATED NATURE OF SEVERE EVENTS...A WW WILL
PROBABLY NOT BE NEEDED...BUT AREA WILL CONTINUE TO BE MONITORED.

DISCUSSION...EARLY THIS AFTERNOON A COLD FRONT EXTENDS FROM ERN NEB
SWWD THROUGH SWRN KS AND THE TX PANHANDLE. WATER VAPOR IMAGERY AND
RAPID REFRESH OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS SHOW A PROGRESSIVE VORT MAX OVER
ERN CO WHICH IS AUGMENTING LIFT AND DESTABILIZATION WITHIN THE POST
FRONTAL REGIME WHERE 500-1000 J/KG MUCAPE EXISTS. POINT FORECAST
SOUNDINGS INDICATE THESE STORMS ARE ROOTED NEAR 800 MB...BUT
EFFECTIVE LAYER SHEAR IS SUFFICIENT FOR UPDRAFTS TO ROTATE. THIS IN
CONJUNCTION WITH STEEP MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES WILL CONTINUE TO
SUPPORT ISOLATED LARGE HAIL WITHIN THE STRONGER STORMS THIS
AFTERNOON. HOWEVER...A WW WILL PROBABLY NOT BE NEEDED UNLESS TRENDS
BEGIN TO SUGGEST STORMS WILL INCREASE IN COVERAGE.

..DIAL/WEISS.. 05/19/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...LBF...DDC...GLD...PUB...BOU...

LAT...LON   40990110 40380040 39040029 37830104 37120259 37160415
            37930427 38970237 40630167 40990110

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 19, 1:36 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarber, Barton, Clay, Cloud, Comanche, Dickinson and 30 more84 min
May 19, 2:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBarber, Barton, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Clay and 32 more7 hr
May 19, 4:41 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCButler, Chase, Clay, Cloud, Dickinson, Geary and 14 more64 min
May 18, 11:51 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrown, Keya Paha84 min
May 19, 5:52 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCDakota5 hr

Nearby

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