Alert archive / Wisconsin / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 938

May 28, 2012Jo Daviess County, Stephenson County, Illinois; Clayton County, Dubuque County, Iowa; 40 counties in Wisconsin

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 28, 2012, 12:00 PM CDT for Jo Daviess County, Stephenson County, Illinois; Clayton County, Dubuque County, Iowa; 40 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 60 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 28, 2012, 12:00 PM CDT (17:00 UTC)
Expired
May 28, 2012, 1:00 PM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
80%
All 44 counties

Clayton County, IA, Dubuque County, IA, Jo Daviess County, IL, Stephenson County, IL, Adams County, WI, Brown County, WI, Calumet County, WI, Clark County, WI, Columbia County, WI, Crawford County, WI, Dane County, WI, Dodge County, WI, Fond du Lac County, WI, Forest County, WI, Grant County, WI, Green County, WI, Green Lake County, WI, Iowa County, WI, Jackson County, WI, Jefferson County, WI, Juneau County, WI, Lafayette County, WI, Langlade County, WI, Lincoln County, WI, Marathon County, WI, Marinette County, WI, Marquette County, WI, Menominee County, WI, Monroe County, WI, Oconto County, WI, Outagamie County, WI, Portage County, WI, Richland County, WI, Rock County, WI, Sauk County, WI, Shawano County, WI, Sheboygan County, WI, Vernon County, WI, Washington County, WI, Waukesha County, WI, Waupaca County, WI, Waushara County, WI, Winnebago County, WI, Wood County, WI

The radar

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 128 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:00 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

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 5.0 hours before the alert went out and 130 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 2012-05-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 42 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 2012-05-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 133 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
42 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-178 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1757 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
133 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
158 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.

174 
ACUS11 KWNS 281701
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 281700
WIZ000-ILZ000-IAZ000-MNZ000-281800-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0938
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1200 PM CDT MON MAY 28 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...IA..WI...IL

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH LIKELY

VALID 281700Z - 281800Z

PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...80 PERCENT

SUMMARY...STRONG TO SEVERE TSTMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AHEAD OF A
COLD FRONT MOVING INTO AREAS OF EXTREME ERN IA...MUCH OF WI...AND
NRN IL THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. A WATCH IS POSSIBLE ACROSS SOME OR
MOST OF THESE AREAS WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR OR TWO.

DISCUSSION...STRONG ASCENT ACCOMPANYING THE SHORT WAVE TROUGH MOVING
INTO ERN MN AND IA WILL LIKELY AID CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT ALONG AND
AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT CURRENTLY SITUATED FROM WRN WI SWWD INTO NERN
IA. AIRMASS AHEAD OF THE FRONT CONTINUES TO DESTABILIZE WITH HEATING
OF THE DAY AND SURFACE-BASED CAPE IS CURRENTLY NEARING 1000 J/KG IN
SOME LOCATIONS. A WIDE ARRAY OF MODEL GUIDANCE INDICATES A
REMARKABLY CONSISTENT SIGNAL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND INCREASING
COVERAGE OF DEEP CONVECTION...ESPECIALLY ACROSS NRN AND ERN
WI...THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. THIS MODEL SIGNAL IS LIKELY A RESULT OF
FAVORABLE LARGE SCALE FORCING FOR ASCENT MOVING INTO THE REGION AND
A LACK OF STRONGER INHIBITION THAN WHAT HAS BEEN IN PLACE IN RECENT
DAYS.

AMBIENT DEEP-LAYER SHEAR OF 40KT WITHIN THE SERN FLANK OF THE LARGE
UPPER LOW TO THE WEST WILL SUPPORT INCREASING STORM ORGANIZATION
WITH SUPERCELLS AND BOWING LINE SEGMENTS POTENTIALLY EVOLVING WITH
TIME. LARGE HAIL AND LOCALLY DAMAGING WINDS MAY ACCOMPANY THE
STRONGER STORMS LATER TODAY.

..CARBIN.. 05/28/2012

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

ATTN...WFO...GRB...LOT...MKX...DVN...DLH...ARX...

LAT...LON   44159089 44949062 45459001 45808920 45568804 44598754
            43768771 42898837 42078983 42279097 43049146 44159089

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 28, 4:59 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBoone, Bureau, Carroll, DeKalb, Henderson, Henry and 15 more91 min
May 28, 6:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBoone, Bureau, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy and 10 more3 hr
May 27, 9:51 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBuena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson, Emmet, Ida and 5 more84 min
May 28, 12:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCClayton7 hr
May 27, 7:47 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBurnett, Douglas, Pierce, Polk, Saint Croix88 min
May 27, 10:11 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBurnett, Douglas, Pierce, Polk, Saint Croix94 min
May 28, 1:48 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAshland, Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Chippewa, Douglas and 8 more57 min
May 28, 2:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAshland, Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Chippewa, Douglas and 10 more6 hr
May 28, 3:58 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Brown, Burnett and 59 more92 min
May 28, 6:28 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarron, Chippewa, Dunn, Rusk, Sawyer, Washburn62 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Wisconsin, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Illinois, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Iowa, 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.