Alert archive / Wisconsin / Mesoscale Discussions in 2016
Mesoscale Discussion 74
The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Feb 2, 2016, 11:35 AM CST for 26 counties in Iowa; 33 counties in Minnesota; 36 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 2, 2016, 11:35 AM CST (17:35 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 2, 2016, 4:30 PM CST
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 95 counties
Allamakee County, IA, Bremer County, IA, Buena Vista County, IA, Cerro Gordo County, IA, Cherokee County, IA, Chickasaw County, IA, Clay County, IA, Dickinson County, IA, Emmet County, IA, Fayette County, IA, Floyd County, IA, Hancock County, IA, Howard County, IA, Kossuth County, IA, Lyon County, IA, Mitchell County, IA, O'Brien County, IA, Osceola County, IA, Palo Alto County, IA, Plymouth County, IA, Pocahontas County, IA, Sioux County, IA, Winnebago County, IA, Winneshiek County, IA, Woodbury County, IA, Worth County, IA, Anoka County, MN, Blue Earth County, MN, Brown County, MN, Carver County, MN, Cottonwood County, MN, Dakota County, MN, Dodge County, MN, Faribault County, MN, Fillmore County, MN, Freeborn County, MN, Goodhue County, MN, Hennepin County, MN, Houston County, MN, Jackson County, MN, Le Sueur County, MN, Martin County, MN, McLeod County, MN, Mower County, MN, Murray County, MN, Nicollet County, MN, Nobles County, MN, Olmsted County, MN, Ramsey County, MN, Redwood County, MN, Rice County, MN, Scott County, MN, Sibley County, MN, Steele County, MN, Wabasha County, MN, Waseca County, MN, Washington County, MN, Watonwan County, MN, Winona County, MN, Adams County, WI, Barron County, WI, Buffalo County, WI, Chippewa County, WI, Clark County, WI, Crawford County, WI, Dunn County, WI, Eau Claire County, WI, Forest County, WI, Jackson County, WI, Juneau County, WI, La Crosse County, WI, Langlade County, WI, Lincoln County, WI, Marathon County, WI, Marquette County, WI, Menominee County, WI, Monroe County, WI, Oconto County, WI, Oneida County, WI, Pepin County, WI, Pierce County, WI, Polk County, WI, Portage County, WI, Price County, WI, Richland County, WI, Rusk County, WI, Saint Croix County, WI, Sauk County, WI, Shawano County, WI, Taylor County, WI, Trempealeau County, WI, Vernon County, WI, Waupaca County, WI, Waushara County, WI, Wood County, WI
The radar
The La Crosse radar (KARX), 107 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:36 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
Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 129 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 770 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 35 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 64 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted.
950
ACUS11 KWNS 021735
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 021735
WIZ000-IAZ000-MNZ000-022230-
MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0074
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1135 AM CST TUE FEB 02 2016
AREAS AFFECTED...PORTIONS OF NRN IA...SRN MN...AND MUCH OF WI
CONCERNING...HEAVY SNOW
VALID 021735Z - 022230Z
SUMMARY...HEAVY SNOW...WITH RATES AROUND 1 INCH/HR...WILL CONTINUE
TO SPREAD NEWD THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. LOCALIZED NEAR-BLIZZARD
CONDITIONS SHOULD ALSO CONTINUE ACROSS PORTIONS OF NRN IA INTO SRN
MN FOR SEVERAL MORE HOURS.
DISCUSSION...AS A CLOSED UPPER LOW OVER N-CNTRL KS/S-CNTRL NEB AS OF
1730Z MOVES NEWD THROUGH THE AFTERNOON...A RELATED BAND OF STRONG
LOW- TO MID-LEVEL FRONTOGENETIC FORCING WILL ALSO SHIFT NEWD WITH
TIME. MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW...WITH RATES AROUND 1 INCH/HR...WILL
LIKELY CONTINUE WITHIN THE W-E ORIENTED DEFORMATION BAND ASSOCIATED
WITH THE LARGE-SCALE FORCING ATTENDANT TO THE UPPER TROUGH. THIS
DEFORMATION BAND SHOULD BECOME ORIENTED MORE FROM SW-NE WITH TIME AS
THE NOSE OF A MID/UPPER JET ROUNDING THE UPPER TROUGH SHIFTS NEWD BY
23Z. MID-LEVEL COOLING AND RELATED STEEPENING OF MID-LEVEL LAPSE
RATES WILL ENCOURAGE SOME LOCALIZED CONVECTIVE ENHANCEMENT TO THE
SNOWFALL RATES WITHIN HEAVY SNOW BANDS...AND RATES UP TO 2 INCHES/HR
MAY BRIEFLY BE POSSIBLE. 17Z SFC OBSERVATIONS ACROSS PORTIONS OF NRN
IA/SRN MN WHERE HEAVY SNOW IS ONGOING INDICATE ELY/NELY WINDS OF
15-25 KT...WITH SOME GUSTS APPROACHING 35 KT AS AN AREA OF LOW
PRESSURE OVER N-CNTRL KS MOVES NEWD WITH THE UPPER LOW. A CONTINUED
ENHANCED SFC PRESSURE GRADIENT ACROSS THE MCD AREA THROUGH THE
AFTERNOON SUGGESTS NEAR-BLIZZARD TO OCCASIONAL BLIZZARD CONDITIONS
SHOULD CONTINUE FOR PORTIONS OF NRN IA AND SRN MN FOR AT LEAST THE
NEXT SEVERAL HOURS...BEFORE FORECAST WIND SPEEDS ARE EXPECTED TO
DIMINISH SOMEWHAT.
..GLEASON.. 02/02/2016
...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT...
ATTN...WFO...GRB...MKX...DLH...ARX...MPX...DMX...FSD...
LAT...LON 42989377 42259632 43419642 44169576 45289371 46019008
45768845 44958785 43558949 42649189 42989377SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2, 3:39 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Carroll, Cherokee, Crawford, Harrison, Ida, Monona and 3 more | 6 hr |
| Feb 2, 7:50 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Audubon, Black Hawk, Boone, Bremer, Buena Vista, Butler and 37 more | 4 hr |
Nearby
Mesoscale Discussions in Wisconsin, 2016Mesoscale Discussions in Minnesota, 2016Mesoscale Discussions in Iowa, 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.