Alert archive / North Carolina / Mesoscale Discussions in 2019

Mesoscale Discussion 1663

August 7, 20194 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Aug 7, 2019, 12:50 PM EDT for 4 states. It was in force for 85 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 7, 2019, 12:50 PM EDT (16:50 UTC)
Expired
Aug 7, 2019, 2:15 PM EDT
In force
85 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
80%
All 113 counties

Saint Mary's County, MD, Alamance County, NC, Anson County, NC, Beaufort County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Camden County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Craven County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Dare County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Durham County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Gates County, NC, Granville County, NC, Greene County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lee County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Martin County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Nash County, NC, New Hanover County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Orange County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Pender County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Person County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Robeson County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Vance County, NC, Wake County, NC, Warren County, NC, Washington County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Chesterfield County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, Amelia County, VA, Brunswick County, VA, Caroline County, VA, Charles City County, VA, Charlotte County, VA, Chesterfield County, VA, City of Chesapeake, VA, City of Colonial Heights, VA, City of Emporia, VA, City of Franklin, VA, City of Hampton, VA, City of Hopewell, VA, City of Newport News, VA, City of Norfolk, VA, City of Petersburg, VA, City of Poquoson, VA, City of Portsmouth, VA, City of Richmond, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, City of Virginia Beach, VA, City of Williamsburg, VA, Cumberland County, VA, Dinwiddie County, VA, Essex County, VA, Gloucester County, VA, Goochland County, VA, Greensville County, VA, Halifax County, VA, Hanover County, VA, Henrico County, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, James City County, VA, King and Queen County, VA, King George County, VA, King William County, VA, Lancaster County, VA, Lunenburg County, VA, Mathews County, VA, Mecklenburg County, VA, Middlesex County, VA, New Kent County, VA, Northumberland County, VA, Nottoway County, VA, Powhatan County, VA, Prince Edward County, VA, Prince George County, VA, Richmond County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, Westmoreland County, VA, York County, VA

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:53 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

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 4.8 hours before the alert went out and 166 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, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2019-08-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2483 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2019-08-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 44 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
2483 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
598 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
44 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
48 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

444 
ACUS11 KWNS 071650
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 071650 
VAZ000-NCZ000-MDZ000-SCZ000-071815-

Mesoscale Discussion 1663
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
1150 AM CDT Wed Aug 07 2019

Areas affected...Eastern North Carolina and eastern Virginia

Concerning...Severe potential...Watch likely 

Valid 071650Z - 071815Z

Probability of Watch Issuance...80 percent

SUMMARY...Strong to severe storms are expected through the afternoon
and evening. A watch is possible.

DISCUSSION...Storms have started to form along a surface cold front
in central North Carolina. The airmass ahead of these storms is
already very unstable with surface dewpoints in the low to mid 70s
and temperatures approaching 90 yielding MLCAPE around 2000 to 2500
J/kg. Mid-level flow around 40 knots will provide sufficient shear
for storm organization. Expect one or more multicell clusters/line
segments to move across eastern North Carolina and southeast
Virginia through the afternoon and early evening. While mid-level
lapse rates are quite weak (~ 6 C/km), expect storms to have some
hail threat given the expected storm organization in a very unstable
environment. Low-level flow will be a limiting factor to wind
damage, but internal thermodynamic processes in the hot and unstable
airmass will support downdrafts that will be capable of damaging
winds.

..Bentley/Goss.. 08/07/2019

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

ATTN...WFO...AKQ...MHX...LWX...RAH...ILM...RNK...CAE...GSP...

LAT...LON   35888010 36507916 37397858 38137770 38467684 38447634
            38167605 37847591 36817599 36117557 35417547 35137588
            34707676 34317760 34137797 34167840 34527986 34688033
            35158039 35888010

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 7, 1:02 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil and 15 more88 min
Aug 7, 1:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAnne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Charles, Dorchester and 10 more6 hr
Aug 7, 2:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCaroline, Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot7 hr
Aug 7, 3:25 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCSaint Mary's, Somerset65 min
Aug 7, 3:57 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Cecil, Harford, Howard and 5 more93 min
Aug 7, 6:56 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCaroline, Queen Anne's, Talbot64 min
Aug 7, 7:15 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Camden, Chowan, Craven, Currituck, Dare and 7 more60 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in North Carolina, 2019Mesoscale Discussions in Virginia, 2019Mesoscale Discussions in South Carolina, 2019Every mesoscale discussion in 2019

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.