Alert archive / Kansas / Mesoscale Discussions in 2021

Mesoscale Discussion 1296

July 15, 20217 counties in Kansas; Alfalfa County, Grant County, Kay County, Oklahoma

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Jul 15, 2021, 4:01 PM CDT for 7 counties in Kansas; Alfalfa County, Grant County, Kay County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 119 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 15, 2021, 4:01 PM CDT (21:01 UTC)
Expired
Jul 15, 2021, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
119 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Concerning
Severe potential...watch unlikely
Chance of a watch
20%

Counties Barber County, KS, Butler County, KS, Cowley County, KS, Harper County, KS, Kingman County, KS, Sedgwick County, KS, Sumner County, KS, Alfalfa County, OK, Grant County, OK, Kay County, OK

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 40 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:00 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

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 211 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, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 2021-07-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 39 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, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 2021-07-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -74 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
39 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-84 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
987 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-74 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-7 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

901 
ACUS11 KWNS 152102
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 152101 
KSZ000-OKZ000-152300-

Mesoscale Discussion 1296
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
0401 PM CDT Thu Jul 15 2021

Areas affected...South-central KS...north-central OK

Concerning...Severe potential...Watch unlikely 

Valid 152101Z - 152300Z

Probability of Watch Issuance...20 percent

SUMMARY...Convection is expected to increase by early evening. A few
organized storms are possible, posing a threat of damaging wind and
perhaps a brief tornado.

DISCUSSION...Clearing in the wake of an MCV moving across
south-central KS has resulted in moderate destabilization, with
MLCAPE of 1500-2000 J/kg and minimal MLCINH noted in areas where
some heating has occurred, per recent mesoanalyses. Modest but
veering flow aloft is supporting effective shear of 25-35 kt, with
the higher shear values noted where surface winds remain relatively
backed, as noted in recent VWP data from KICT. 

Guidance suggests storms will develop by late afternoon/early
evening across south-central KS into northwest/north-central OK,
which is supported by increasing cumulus noted in recent VIS
imagery. Effective shear will support organized convection as storms
mature, and a supercell or two cannot be ruled out if any storms can
be sustained into the favorable wind profile that will reside to the
east of the most likely initiation zone. Locally damaging wind will
be possible with any stronger storm across this region, and any
supercell may pose a conditional risk of a brief tornado. 

Watch issuance is currently considered unlikely, given uncertainties
regarding storm coverage in the short term and evolution of the
mesoscale details, but trends will continue to be monitored for the
potential of isolated supercell development.

..Dean/Bunting.. 07/15/2021

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

ATTN...WFO...ICT...OUN...DDC...

LAT...LON   37039679 36759710 36549868 36899898 37369888 37769841
            38049761 38019691 37709663 37289660 37039679

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 15, 2:32 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Bourbon, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Crawford, Labette and 3 more118 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Kansas, 2021Mesoscale Discussions in Oklahoma, 2021Every mesoscale discussion in 2021

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.