Alert archive / Virginia / Mesoscale Discussions in 2013

Mesoscale Discussion 1813

August 31, 20134 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Aug 31, 2013, 11:55 AM EDT for 4 states. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 31, 2013, 11:55 AM EDT (15:55 UTC)
Expired
Aug 31, 2013, 2:00 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
20%
All 38 counties

Breathitt County, KY, Floyd County, KY, Harlan County, KY, Knott County, KY, Letcher County, KY, Perry County, KY, Pike County, KY, Alleghany County, NC, Ashe County, NC, Avery County, NC, Caldwell County, NC, Madison County, NC, Mitchell County, NC, Watauga County, NC, Wilkes County, NC, Yancey County, NC, Carter County, TN, Cocke County, TN, Greene County, TN, Hancock County, TN, Hawkins County, TN, Johnson County, TN, Sullivan County, TN, Unicoi County, TN, Washington County, TN, Buchanan County, VA, City of Bristol, VA, City of Galax, VA, City of Norton, VA, Dickenson County, VA, Grayson County, VA, Lee County, VA, Russell County, VA, Scott County, VA, Smyth County, VA, Tazewell County, VA, Washington County, VA, Wise County, VA

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 110 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:55 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 3.9 hours before the alert went out and 247 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2013-08-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 186 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2013-08-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 2 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
186 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-75 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
787 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
33 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.

032 
ACUS11 KWNS 311556
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 311555 
NCZ000-VAZ000-WVZ000-TNZ000-KYZ000-311800-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 1813
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1055 AM CDT SAT AUG 31 2013

AREAS AFFECTED...PORTIONS SERN KY...SWRN VA...NERN TN...WRN NC.

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH UNLIKELY 

VALID 311555Z - 311800Z

PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...20 PERCENT

SUMMARY...CLUSTER OF CONVECTION OVER ERN KY HAS GROWN SUFFICIENTLY
UPSCALE TO ORGANIZE FORWARD-PROPAGATING OUTFLOW THAT MAY ENGENDER
ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT ALONG ITS LEADING EDGE...IN TURN REINFORCING
PRECIP LOADING TO DRIVE COLD POOL.  GUSTS SHOULD REMAIN LARGELY
SUB-SVR WITH RESPECT TO 50-KT SPEED CRITERIA...BUT STILL CAPABLE OF
OCNL DAMAGE TO TREES/LIMBS AND WEAK STRUCTURES...ESPECIALLY ALONG
NW-FACING SLOPES.

DISCUSSION...VIS AND IR IMAGERY EACH INDICATE SMALL MIDLEVEL
CYCLONIC CIRCULATION/VORTICITY MAX BEHIND THIS TSTM CLUSTER...MOVING
SEWD OVER NERN KY ATTM...THAT MAY BE AIDING IN ASCENT AND SUBTLE
STEEPENING OF WEAK AMBIENT LAPSE RATES ALOFT.  FOREGOING AIR MASS
FROM SERN KY INTO WRN NC SHOULD CONTINUE TO DESTABILIZE AMIDST STG
SFC DIABATIC HEATING...AND FAVORABLE LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE AS
REPRESENTED BY 70S F SFC DEW POINTS IN LOWER ELEVATIONS. RESULTANT
MODIFICATIONS TO RAOBS AND FCST SOUNDINGS YIELDS 1500-2000 J/KG
MLCAPE...AMIDST ONLY 20-25 KT EFFECTIVE SHEAR MAGNITUDE.  LOW-MIDDLE
LEVEL FLOW AND SHEAR EACH ARE RATHER WEAK ALREADY AND BECOME LESS
WITH SEWD EXTENT ALONG PROJECTED PATH.  MEAN-WIND VECTORS SHOULD
REMAIN DIRECTED FROM NW AND NNW...ENCOURAGING SEWD NET TRANSLATION
OF COLD POOL WITH SOME SSEWD PROPAGATION ALSO POSSIBLE.

..EDWARDS/GOSS.. 08/31/2013

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

ATTN...WFO...RNK...RLX...GSP...MRX...JKL...

LAT...LON   37588347 37798263 36588066 35828163 35708313 37588347

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Virginia, 2013Mesoscale Discussions in North Carolina, 2013Mesoscale Discussions in Tennessee, 2013Every mesoscale discussion in 2013

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.