Alert archive / North Dakota / Mesoscale Discussions in 2016

Mesoscale Discussion 1339

July 20, 20168 counties in North Dakota

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Jul 20, 2016, 5:43 PM CDT for 8 counties in North Dakota. It was in force for 62 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 20, 2016, 5:43 PM CDT (22:43 UTC)
Expired
Jul 20, 2016, 6:45 PM CDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Benson County, ND, Bottineau County, ND, McHenry County, ND, Pierce County, ND, Renville County, ND, Rolette County, ND, Towner County, ND, Ward County, ND

The radar

The Minot AFB radar (KMBX), 27 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:46 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

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 197 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 2016-07-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2285 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 2016-07-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 27 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
2285 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-286 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1417 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
205 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

484 
ACUS11 KWNS 202244
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 202243 
NDZ000-202345-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 1339
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0543 PM CDT WED JUL 20 2016

AREAS AFFECTED...NRN ND

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 400...

VALID 202243Z - 202345Z

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 400
CONTINUES.

SUMMARY...ISOLATED TORNADO THREAT EXISTS ACROSS NORTHERN ND.  SMALL
TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS THREAT.

DISCUSSION...VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR MASS EXISTS ACROSS NRN ND
THIS EVENING.  A FEW DISCRETE SUPERCELLS HAVE EVOLVED OVER NRN
ND...ESPECIALLY NEAR WARD COUNTY.  A COUPLE OF TORNADOES HAVE
ALREADY BEEN OBSERVED WITH THIS ROBUST CONVECTION AND SUFFICIENT
SHEAR EXISTS...GIVEN THE AFOREMENTIONED MOISTURE/INSTABILITY...FOR A
TORNADO THREAT THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS.  FOR THIS REASON HAVE ISSUED
A SMALL TORNADO WATCH ACROSS NRN ND.

..DARROW.. 07/20/2016

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

ATTN...WFO...FGF...BIS...

LAT...LON   48980184 48989871 47909883 47880166 48980184

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 19, 8:10 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCass, Grand Forks, Steele, Traill95 min
Jul 20, 3:43 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Benson, Bottineau, Burleigh, Emmons, Grant and 16 more92 min
Jul 20, 4:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdams, Benson, Bottineau, Burke, Burleigh, Cavalier and 28 more8 hr
Jul 20, 5:39 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBenson, Bottineau, Cavalier, McHenry, Pierce, Ramsey and 4 more5 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in North Dakota, 2016Every mesoscale discussion in 2016

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.