Alert archive / Alabama / Mesoscale Discussions in 2017

Mesoscale Discussion 77

January 19, 201711 counties in Alabama; 6 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Jan 19, 2017, 6:11 PM CST for 11 counties in Alabama; 6 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jan 19, 2017, 6:11 PM CST (00:11 UTC)
Expired
Jan 19, 2017, 8:15 PM CST
In force
2 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
20%

Counties Bullock County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Lee County, AL, Macon County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Russell County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Carroll County, GA, Haralson County, GA, Harris County, GA, Heard County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Troup County, GA

The radar

The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:11 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

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 118 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 2017-01-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 27 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 2017-01-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 116 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
27 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1138 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
187 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

864 
ACUS11 KWNS 200012
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 200011 
GAZ000-ALZ000-200215-

Mesoscale Discussion 0077
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
0611 PM CST Thu Jan 19 2017

Areas affected...eastern Alabama through west central GA

Concerning...Severe potential...Watch unlikely 

Valid 200011Z - 200215Z

Probability of Watch Issuance...20 percent

SUMMARY...Thunderstorms will continue to pose a marginal risk for
isolated damaging wind and a brief tornado through 02Z as they move
through the remainder of eastern Alabama into far western Georgia.
Overall threat does not appear sufficient for a WW.

DISCUSSION...A line of thunderstorms with embedded bowing segments
and meso-vortices extends from northeast through south-central GA.
The line is moving east at 15-20 kt, while individual elements
within the line move more rapidly northeast. Objective analysis
indicates a marginally unstable warm sector with MLCAPE below 500
J/kg. The weak thermodynamic environment should remain the primary
limiting factor for a more robust severe threat especially as storms
continue east into GA as evidenced by the 00Z Atlanta raob. Based on
the VWP from Montgomery AL, low-level hodographs are not
particularly large with unidirectional deep-layer wind profiles.
However, effective bulk shear up to 40 kt is sufficient for storms
to organize with embedded bowing segments and weak supercell
structures. Some increase in the low-level jet is expected this
evening in response to the ejecting upper trough. However, storms
will begin to move east of the more unstable portion of warm sector
beyond 02Z, suggesting an overall diminishing trend by that time.

..Dial/Edwards.. 01/20/2017

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

ATTN...WFO...FFC...BMX...MOB...

LAT...LON   32008649 32748614 33288591 33698578 34038556 33748505
            33268476 32478474 31878549 32008649

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Alabama, 2017Mesoscale Discussions in Georgia, 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.