Alert archive / West Virginia / Mesoscale Discussions in 2016

Mesoscale Discussion 522

May 1, 20164 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 1, 2016, 3:59 PM EDT for 4 states. It was in force for 61 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 1, 2016, 3:59 PM EDT (19:59 UTC)
Expired
May 1, 2016, 5:00 PM EDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
80%
All 50 counties

Boyd County, KY, Breathitt County, KY, Carter County, KY, Clay County, KY, Elliott County, KY, Floyd County, KY, Johnson County, KY, Knott County, KY, Lawrence County, KY, Lee County, KY, Leslie County, KY, Letcher County, KY, Magoffin County, KY, Martin County, KY, Morgan County, KY, Owsley County, KY, Perry County, KY, Pike County, KY, Wolfe County, KY, Gallia County, OH, Lawrence County, OH, Meigs County, OH, Buchanan County, VA, Dickenson County, VA, Boone County, WV, Braxton County, WV, Cabell County, WV, Calhoun County, WV, Clay County, WV, Fayette County, WV, Gilmer County, WV, Jackson County, WV, Kanawha County, WV, Lewis County, WV, Lincoln County, WV, Logan County, WV, Mason County, WV, McDowell County, WV, Mercer County, WV, Mingo County, WV, Nicholas County, WV, Putnam County, WV, Raleigh County, WV, Ritchie County, WV, Roane County, WV, Wayne County, WV, Webster County, WV, Wirt County, WV, Wood County, WV, Wyoming County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 13 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:59 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

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 209 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 2016-05-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 196 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 2016-05-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 109 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
196 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-30 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
619 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
109 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

871 
ACUS11 KWNS 011959
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 011959 
WVZ000-OHZ000-VAZ000-KYZ000-012100-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0522
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0259 PM CDT SUN MAY 01 2016

AREAS AFFECTED...ERN KY...SW/W WV...FAR SW VA

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH LIKELY 

VALID 011959Z - 012100Z

PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...80 PERCENT

SUMMARY...TSTM COVERAGE IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON
ACROSS THE REGION WILL SOME SVR HAIL AND/OR DAMAGING WIND GUSTS
POSSIBLE. A WW WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED TO COVER THE POTENTIAL SVR
THREAT.

DISCUSSION...ENVIRONMENT ACROSS THE REGION CONTINUES TO HEAT UP
UNDER MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES WITH INITIAL CINH NOW COMPLETELY ERODED.
LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE IS A BIT LOWER HERE THAN AREAS FARTHER
W...CONTRIBUTING TO SLIGHTLY LESS INSTABILITY /LATEST MESOANALYSIS
ESTIMATES MLCAPE AROUND 1000 J PER KG/. EVEN WITH LESS
INSTABILITY...BULK SHEAR SAMPLED BY REGIONAL VADS AND ESTIMATED BY
MESOANALYSIS SUGGESTS AN ISOLATED/POSSIBLY SCATTERED SEVERE THREAT
MAY MATERIALIZE AS TSTM COVERAGE INCREASES THIS AFTERNOON UNDER
PERSISTENT HEATING AND SUBTLE FORCING FOR ASCENT. WW WILL LIKELY BE
NEEDED SOON TO ADDRESS THIS SVR THREAT.

..MOSIER/DIAL.. 05/01/2016

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

ATTN...WFO...RNK...RLX...MRX...JKL...ILN...

LAT...LON   37288115 36978373 37678373 38628274 39028227 39168199
            39388102 39148052 38518036 37288115

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 1, 1:39 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBoone, Bracken, Breckinridge, Bullitt, Campbell, Carroll and 18 more2 hr
May 1, 2:11 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCButler, Calloway, Christian, Logan, Muhlenberg, Todd and 1 more64 min
May 1, 2:36 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdair, Allen, Anderson, Barren, Boone, Bourbon and 67 more6 hr
May 1, 4:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBath, Boyd, Breathitt, Carter, Elliott, Estill and 20 more6 hr
May 1, 6:48 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Allen, Anderson, Barren, Bath, Boone and 72 more87 min
May 1, 7:30 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFloyd, Knott, Martin, Pike60 min
May 1, 7:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAlleghany, Bath, Bland, Botetourt, Craig, Floyd and 15 more3 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in West Virginia, 2016Mesoscale Discussions in Kentucky, 2016Mesoscale Discussions in Ohio, 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.