Alert archive / North Carolina / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 866

May 22, 201244 counties in North Carolina; 6 counties in South Carolina; 7 counties in Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 22, 2012, 2:29 PM EDT for 44 counties in North Carolina; 6 counties in South Carolina; 7 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 91 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 22, 2012, 2:29 PM EDT (18:29 UTC)
Expired
May 22, 2012, 4:00 PM EDT
In force
91 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
20%
All 57 counties

Beaufort County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Brunswick County, NC, Camden County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Craven County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Gates County, NC, Greene County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lee County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Martin County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Nash County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Pender County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Robeson County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Wake County, NC, Washington County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Dillon County, SC, Georgetown County, SC, Horry County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC, City of Chesapeake, VA, City of Franklin, VA, City of Norfolk, VA, City of Portsmouth, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, City of Virginia Beach, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 66 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:31 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

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 110 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, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2012-05-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 89 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, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2012-05-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -26 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
89 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-68 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
747 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
32 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.

477 
ACUS11 KWNS 221829
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 221829 
NCZ000-VAZ000-SCZ000-222000-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0866
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0129 PM CDT TUE MAY 22 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...NERN SC...CENTRAL/ERN NC AND SERN VA

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH UNLIKELY 

VALID 221829Z - 222000Z

PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...20 PERCENT

SUMMARY...WIDESPREAD CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED TO PERSIST
THROUGH THE AFTERNOON ACROSS NERN SC THROUGH CENTRAL AND ERN NC INTO
SERN VA.  WEAK WINDS/DEEP SHEAR ARE EXPECTED TO LIMIT OVERALL STORM
ORGANIZATION...THOUGH PW VALUES 1.3-1.5 INCH WILL PROMOTE HEAVY
RAINFALL RATES WITH SOME POTENTIAL FOR LOCALLY STRONG WIND GUSTS
ATTENDANT TO PULSE-TYPE ACTIVITY.  A FEW STRONGER CORES MAY SUPPORT
AN ADDITIONAL THREAT FOR HAIL APPROACHING 1 INCH IN DIAMETER.

DISCUSSION...TRENDS IN REGIONAL RADAR IMAGERY/LIGHTNING DATA
INDICATED ONGOING WIDESPREAD TSTMS FROM NERN SC THROUGH CENTRAL/ERN
NC INTO SERN VA.  A MODERATELY UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT WILL CONTINUE TO
SUPPORT THE STORMS THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. GREATEST CONCENTRATION OF
ACTIVITY SHOULD PERSIST WITHIN A ZONE OF WEAK LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE
EXTENDING SWWD FROM SERN VA THROUGH ERN NC. INTERMITTENT STRONGER
CORES HAVE OCCURRED OVER NERN SC INTO SERN NC ATTENDANT TO UPWARD
VERTICAL MOTION ALONG THE TRACK OF AN UPPER VORT...PER WATER VAPOR
IMAGERY...TRACKING NNEWD ALONG THE SRN NC COAST. THE FORCING FOR
ASCENT WITH THIS FEATURE SHOULD SUPPORT ADDITIONAL SUSTAINED
UPDRAFTS...BUT WEAK DEEP LAYER WIND FIELDS SUGGEST STORM
ORGANIZATION SHOULD BE LIMITED...RESULTING IN A LOW PROBABILITY FOR
WATCH ISSUANCE.

..PETERS/WEISS.. 05/22/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...AKQ...MHX...RAH...ILM...GSP...

LAT...LON   37067652 36917595 36017564 35087626 34647697 34287781
            33787866 33337926 33407977 34277959 34917988 35508019
            35897867 36287772 36757692 37067652

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 22, 1:46 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAbbeville, Edgefield, McCormick59 min
May 22, 3:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAllendale, Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester and 2 more5 hr
May 22, 6:58 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Clarendon, Colleton, Dorchester and 2 more62 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in North Carolina, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Virginia, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in South Carolina, 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.