Alert archive / Texas / Mesoscale Discussions in 2016

Mesoscale Discussion 693

May 23, 201621 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 23, 2016, 1:32 PM CDT for 21 counties in Texas. It was in force for 118 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 23, 2016, 1:32 PM CDT (18:32 UTC)
Expired
May 23, 2016, 3:30 PM CDT
In force
118 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
95%
All 21 counties

Borden County, TX, Coke County, TX, Crockett County, TX, Crosby County, TX, Dawson County, TX, Garza County, TX, Glasscock County, TX, Howard County, TX, Irion County, TX, Kent County, TX, Lubbock County, TX, Lynn County, TX, Martin County, TX, Midland County, TX, Mitchell County, TX, Pecos County, TX, Reagan County, TX, Scurry County, TX, Sterling County, TX, Terrell County, TX, Upton County, TX

The radar

The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:33 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

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 45 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, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 2016-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2825 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, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 2016-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 104 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
2825 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-130 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
985 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
104 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
126 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
4.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

037 
ACUS11 KWNS 231832
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 231832 
TXZ000-232030-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0693
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0132 PM CDT MON MAY 23 2016

AREAS AFFECTED...PARTS OF WEST TX

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...TORNADO WATCH LIKELY 

VALID 231832Z - 232030Z

PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...95 PERCENT

SUMMARY...ISOLATED TO WIDELY SCATTERED STORMS SHOULD DEVELOP OVER
THE MOUNTAINS OF THE TRANS-PECOS AND EVENTUALLY NORTH-NORTHEAST
ALONG THE DRYLINE. VERY LARGE HAIL WILL BE THE PRIMARY HAZARD...BUT
A COUPLE TORNADIC SUPERCELLS AND ISOLATED SEVERE WINDS WILL BE
POSSIBLE AS WELL.

DISCUSSION...INITIAL HIGH-BASED CB DEVELOPMENT HAS COMMENCED OVER
JEFF DAVIS COUNTY WITH DOWNSTREAM BOUNDARY-LAYER CU ALSO EVIDENT
INTO PECOS COUNTY. THIS SHOULD BE THE CORRIDOR FOR STORM INITIATION
THROUGH 20Z. UNCERTAINTY EXISTS WITH HOW FAR NORTH STORMS WILL
DEVELOP IN THE LATE AFTERNOON OWING TO MINIMAL DRYLINE CU AT THIS
TIME. NEVERTHELESS...WEAKENING INHIBITION AND STRENGTHENING
CONVERGENCE ALONG THE DRYLINE SHOULD FOSTER AT LEAST A COUPLE STORMS
NORTH OF THE HIGH TERRAIN. AIR MASS IS QUITE UNSTABLE WITH MLCAPE OF
3000-4000 J/KG AMID VERY STEEP MID-LEVEL LAPSE RATES. A FEW
SUPERCELLS SHOULD FORM WITH VERY LARGE HAIL AS THE MAIN HAZARD.
MODEST LOW-LEVEL INFLOW MAY INITIALLY TEMPER THE TORNADO RISK...BUT
GIVEN THE DEGREE OF BUOYANCY AND SOME STRENGTHENING OF LOW-LEVEL
WINDS TOWARDS EVENING...AN INCREASE IN TORNADO/WIND POTENTIAL IS
ANTICIPATED.

..GRAMS/HART.. 05/23/2016

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

ATTN...WFO...EWX...SJT...LUB...MAF...

LAT...LON   32940199 33570201 33800138 33540070 33020045 32180045
            30920105 29910178 29710252 30040298 30830274 31630206
            32510201 32940199

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 22, 7:02 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArmstrong, Borden, Briscoe, Carson, Childress, Collingsworth and 22 more118 min
May 22, 7:46 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArcher, Baylor, Hardeman, Wichita, Wilbarger89 min
May 22, 8:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCArcher, Baylor, Clay, Foard, Hardeman, Knox and 2 more5 hr
May 22, 9:10 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChildress, Collingsworth, Cottle, Dickens, Donley, Gray and 10 more65 min
May 22, 9:35 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCIrion, Reagan85 min
May 23, 1:36 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArcher, Clay, Cooke, Denton, Grayson, Montague and 2 more84 min
May 23, 2:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCArcher, Clay, Cooke, Grayson, Montague, Wichita and 1 more5 hr
May 23, 4:58 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArcher, Baylor, Clay, Cooke, Fannin, Grayson and 3 more62 min
May 23, 2:18 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChildress, Collingsworth, Cottle, Donley, Hall, Hemphill and 2 more117 min
May 23, 2:32 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBorden, Brewster, Briscoe, Childress, Coke, Cottle and 37 more7 hr
May 23, 3:37 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCCollingsworth, Donley, Foard, Gray, Hardeman, Hemphill and 6 more8 hr
May 23, 5:29 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBorden, Briscoe, Coke, Cottle, Crockett, Crosby and 30 more91 min
May 23, 6:08 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCollingsworth, Donley, Foard, Hardeman, Hemphill, Knox and 3 more2 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Texas, 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.