Alert archive / Iowa / Mesoscale Discussions in 2017

Mesoscale Discussion 751

May 17, 201713 counties in Illinois; 23 counties in Iowa; Clark County, Missouri

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 17, 2017, 3:24 PM CDT for 13 counties in Illinois; 23 counties in Iowa; Clark County, Missouri. It was in force for 66 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 17, 2017, 3:24 PM CDT (20:24 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 2017, 4:30 PM CDT
In force
66 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
95%
All 37 counties

Benton County, IA, Buchanan County, IA, Cedar County, IA, Clinton County, IA, Davis County, IA, Delaware County, IA, Des Moines County, IA, Dubuque County, IA, Henry County, IA, Iowa County, IA, Jackson County, IA, Jefferson County, IA, Johnson County, IA, Jones County, IA, Keokuk County, IA, Lee County, IA, Linn County, IA, Louisa County, IA, Muscatine County, IA, Scott County, IA, Van Buren County, IA, Wapello County, IA, Washington County, IA, Carroll County, IL, Hancock County, IL, Henderson County, IL, Henry County, IL, Jo Daviess County, IL, Knox County, IL, McDonough County, IL, Mercer County, IL, Rock Island County, IL, Stark County, IL, Stephenson County, IL, Warren County, IL, Whiteside County, IL, Clark County, MO

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 60 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:25 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

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 66 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2017-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 103 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2017-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 84 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
103 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-348 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1223 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
84 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
79 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

246 
ACUS11 KWNS 172024
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 172024 
WIZ000-ILZ000-IAZ000-MOZ000-172130-

Mesoscale Discussion 0751
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
0324 PM CDT Wed May 17 2017

Areas affected...Eastern IA...Northwest IL

Concerning...Severe potential...Watch likely 

Valid 172024Z - 172130Z

Probability of Watch Issuance...95 percent

SUMMARY...Tornado watch will likely be issued by 21z for portions of
eastern IA and northwest IL.

DISCUSSION...Buoyancy has gradually increased across eastern IA and
northwest IL this afternoon where MLCAPE values are now on the order
of 1000 J/kg.  CINH has decreased and thunderstorms are gradually
maturing well ahead of strong negative-tilt short-wave trough. 
While substantial low-level drying has surged across MO it appears
near-60F surface dew points should hold across this region.  Severe
threat is increasing across this region and a new tornado watch is
warranted to account for expected supercell development.

..Darrow/Goss.. 05/17/2017

...Please see www.spc.noaa.gov for graphic product...

ATTN...WFO...LOT...ILX...MKX...DVN...ARX...DMX...EAX...

LAT...LON   40549259 42679197 42558916 41068968 40239082 40549259

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 3:44 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBoone, Bureau, Carroll, DeKalb, Henderson, Henry and 18 more9 hr
May 16, 7:31 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Adams, Audubon, Benton, Black Hawk, Boone and 59 more59 min
May 16, 8:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAllamakee, Black Hawk, Boone, Bremer, Butler, Cerro Gordo and 29 more5 hr
May 16, 9:43 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Adams, Audubon, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass and 16 more62 min
May 16, 11:48 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Allamakee, Black Hawk, Boone, Bremer, Butler and 28 more117 min
May 17, 11:39 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Adams, Appanoose, Audubon, Boone, Carroll and 28 more66 min
May 17, 12:08 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAdair, Adams, Appanoose, Audubon, Black Hawk, Boone and 64 more7 hr
May 17, 12:23 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllamakee, Clayton97 min
May 17, 2:25 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Adams, Audubon, Boone, Calhoun, Carroll and 32 more65 min
May 17, 2:38 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllamakee, Benton, Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler and 15 more97 min
May 17, 3:13 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAllamakee, Chickasaw, Clayton, Fayette, Floyd, Howard and 2 more9 hr
May 17, 6:05 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllamakee, Benton, Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Cedar and 18 more55 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Iowa, 2017Mesoscale Discussions in Illinois, 2017Mesoscale Discussions in Missouri, 2017Every mesoscale discussion in 2017

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.