Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 925

May 27, 201224 counties in Pennsylvania

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 27, 2012, 4:12 PM EDT for 24 counties in Pennsylvania. It was in force for 63 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 27, 2012, 4:12 PM EDT (20:12 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 2012, 5:15 PM EDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 24 counties

Allegheny County, PA, Armstrong County, PA, Beaver County, PA, Blair County, PA, Butler County, PA, Cambria County, PA, Centre County, PA, Clarion County, PA, Clearfield County, PA, Clinton County, PA, Cumberland County, PA, Dauphin County, PA, Franklin County, PA, Huntingdon County, PA, Indiana County, PA, Jefferson County, PA, Juniata County, PA, Mifflin County, PA, Montour County, PA, Northumberland County, PA, Perry County, PA, Snyder County, PA, Union County, PA, Westmoreland County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 31 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:16 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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 174 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2012-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 993 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2012-05-27The 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
993 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-88 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1085 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
47 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.

668 
ACUS11 KWNS 272013
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 272012
PAZ000-272115-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0925
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0312 PM CDT SUN MAY 27 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...ERN OH...WRN PA

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 303...

VALID 272012Z - 272115Z

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 303
CONTINUES.

SUMMARY...A LOOSELY ORGANIZED CLUSTER OF STORMS CONTINUES TO TRACK
ESEWD. STRONGER CELLS WILL BE CAPABLE OF HAIL AND DMGG WINDS. A NEW
WW MAY BE NEED TO BE COORDINATED DOWNSTREAM SOON. COUNTIES IN THE
WAKE OF THE MCS MAY BE CLEARED.

DISCUSSION...PER 20Z VISIBLE AND RADAR IMAGERY...THE MCS OVER NWRN
PA IS BECOMING SOMEWHAT BETTER DEFINED AS IT PROGRESSES ESEWD INTO
GREATER INSTABILITY. ALTHOUGH STRONGER DEEP-LAYER FLOW REMAINS TO
THE N...STEEP LOW-LEVEL LAPSE RATES NEAR 8 C/KM PER MESOANALYSIS MAY
LOCALLY ENHANCE DOWNBURST WINDS. HAIL REMAINS POSSIBLE WITH THE
STRONGER CORES. ADDITIONALLY...SEVERAL NWD PROGRESSING OUTFLOW
BOUNDARIES FROM THE CONVECTION TO THE S MAY LOCALLY ENHANCE SURFACE
CONVERGENCE AND/OR INITIATE NEW CONVECTION. ATTM...IT APPEARS THAT
THE MCS WILL BE SUSTAINED THROUGH CNTRL PA IN ADVANCE OF A WEAK
UPPER WAVE. HOWEVER...THE WIND THREAT MAY DIMINISH AFTER NOCTURNAL
COOLING BEGINS TO STABILIZE THE BOUNDARY LAYER.

..HURLBUT.. 05/27/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...CTP...PBZ...

LAT...LON   40087896 40608041 41128015 41457923 41277759 41117664
            40857602 40587643 40067666 39927773 40087896

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 12:56 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArmstrong, Beaver, Butler, Clarion, Crawford, Erie and 5 more64 min
May 27, 1:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAllegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Clarion, Crawford and 9 more5 hr
May 27, 1:41 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllegheny, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Cumberland, Fayette and 11 more64 min
May 27, 5:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdams, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield and 21 more4 hr
May 27, 6:34 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Cumberland, Fayette and 9 more56 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Pennsylvania, 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.