Alert archive / Virginia / Mesoscale Discussions in 2018

Mesoscale Discussion 1504

September 26, 20185 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Sep 26, 2018, 3:40 PM EDT for 5 states. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 26, 2018, 3:40 PM EDT (19:40 UTC)
Expired
Sep 26, 2018, 6:15 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
20%
All 114 counties

New Castle County, DE, Allegany County, MD, Anne Arundel County, MD, Baltimore County, MD, Calvert County, MD, Carroll County, MD, Cecil County, MD, Charles County, MD, City of Baltimore, MD, Frederick County, MD, Harford County, MD, Howard County, MD, Kent County, MD, Montgomery County, MD, Prince George's County, MD, Queen Anne's County, MD, Talbot County, MD, Washington County, MD, Adams County, PA, Bedford County, PA, Bucks County, PA, Chester County, PA, Cumberland County, PA, Dauphin County, PA, Delaware County, PA, Franklin County, PA, Fulton County, PA, Lancaster County, PA, Lebanon County, PA, Montgomery County, PA, Perry County, PA, Philadelphia County, PA, York County, PA, Albemarle County, VA, Alleghany County, VA, Amelia County, VA, Amherst County, VA, Appomattox County, VA, Arlington County, VA, Augusta County, VA, Bath County, VA, Bedford County, VA, Botetourt County, VA, Buckingham County, VA, Campbell County, VA, Caroline County, VA, Charlotte County, VA, Chesterfield County, VA, City of Alexandria, VA, City of Buena Vista, VA, City of Charlottesville, VA, City of Covington, VA, City of Fairfax, VA, City of Falls Church, VA, City of Fredericksburg, VA, City of Harrisonburg, VA, City of Lexington, VA, City of Lynchburg, VA, City of Manassas, VA, City of Manassas Park, VA, City of Martinsville, VA, City of Richmond, VA, City of Roanoke, VA, City of Salem, VA, City of Staunton, VA, City of Waynesboro, VA, City of Winchester, VA, Clarke County, VA, Craig County, VA, Culpeper County, VA, Cumberland County, VA, Essex County, VA, Fairfax County, VA, Fauquier County, VA, Fluvanna County, VA, Franklin County, VA, Frederick County, VA, Goochland County, VA, Greene County, VA, Halifax County, VA, Hanover County, VA, Highland County, VA, King George County, VA, King William County, VA, Loudoun County, VA, Louisa County, VA, Lunenburg County, VA, Madison County, VA, Montgomery County, VA, Nelson County, VA, Nottoway County, VA, Orange County, VA, Page County, VA, Pittsylvania County, VA, Powhatan County, VA, Prince Edward County, VA, Prince William County, VA, Rappahannock County, VA, Roanoke County, VA, Rockbridge County, VA, Rockingham County, VA, Shenandoah County, VA, Spotsylvania County, VA, Stafford County, VA, Warren County, VA, Westmoreland County, VA, Berkeley County, WV, Grant County, WV, Hampshire County, WV, Hardy County, WV, Jefferson County, WV, Mineral County, WV, Morgan County, WV, Pendleton County, WV

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 80 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:43 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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 83 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2018-09-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 6 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2018-09-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 99 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
6 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-201 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
948 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
99 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
111 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

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SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 26, 5:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCKent, New Castle4 hr
Sep 26, 2:48 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBradford, Carbon, Centre, Clinton, Columbia, Juniata and 18 more2 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Virginia, 2018Mesoscale Discussions in Maryland, 2018Mesoscale Discussions in Pennsylvania, 2018Every mesoscale discussion in 2018

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.