Alert archive / New York / Mesoscale Discussions in 2021

Mesoscale Discussion 1320

July 20, 202113 counties in New York; Grand Isle County, Vermont

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Jul 20, 2021, 4:17 PM EDT for 13 counties in New York; Grand Isle County, Vermont. It was in force for 118 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 20, 2021, 4:17 PM EDT (20:17 UTC)
Expired
Jul 20, 2021, 6:15 PM EDT
In force
118 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Concerning
Severe thunderstorm watch 384

Counties Cayuga County, NY, Clinton County, NY, Essex County, NY, Franklin County, NY, Hamilton County, NY, Herkimer County, NY, Jefferson County, NY, Lewis County, NY, Oneida County, NY, Onondaga County, NY, Oswego County, NY, St. Lawrence County, NY, Wayne County, NY, Grand Isle County, VT

The radar

The Ft Drum radar (KTYX), 27 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:20 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

Albany, NY (KALY), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 213 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, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 2021-07-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 85 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, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 2021-07-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 45 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
85 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-145 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
793 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
45 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
95 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

940 
ACUS11 KWNS 202017
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 202017 
VTZ000-NYZ000-202215-

Mesoscale Discussion 1320
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
0317 PM CDT Tue Jul 20 2021

Areas affected...Parts of western through much of northern New York
State and adjacent northern Vermont

Concerning...Severe Thunderstorm Watch 384...

Valid 202017Z - 202215Z

The severe weather threat for Severe Thunderstorm Watch 384
continues.

SUMMARY...An organized cluster of thunderstorms will spread across
the St. Lawrence River through much of the Adirondacks vicinity,
along with continuing development across and southeast of Lake
Ontario by 5-7 PM EDT, accompanied by the risk for potentially
damaging wind gusts.

DISCUSSION...Moderate southeasterly low-level inflow of moist air
characterized by CAPE in excess of 1000 J/kg is maintaining vigorous
thunderstorm development along the leading edge of an
east-southeastward advancing, convectively driven surface cold pool.
 This continues to be aided by large-scale forcing for ascent
associated with a 30-50 kt westerly mid/upper jet streak, and will
overspread the upper St. Lawrence Valley through much of the
Adirondacks region by 22-23Z.  As the temperature gradient across
the gust front increases at least a bit further, potential for
damaging wind gusts probably will also continue to increase during
the next hour or two.

Farther to the southwest, thunderstorms which initiated along the
trailing outflow boundary, and preceding lake breezes across the
Lake Ontario vicinity, may also begin to consolidate while spreading
into the unstable environment to the southeast of the lake.  This
too may gradually pose increasing risk for damaging wind gusts
near/north of the Finger Lakes region through the Mohawk Valley by
early evening.

..Kerr.. 07/20/2021

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

ATTN...WFO...BTV...ALY...BGM...BUF...

LAT...LON   43997686 44397609 44977514 45277421 44887322 43647392
            43047508 42957641 43187737 43627813 43997686

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 20, 1:03 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClinton, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis, Monroe, Orleans and 2 more2 hr
Jul 20, 3:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAlbany, Broome, Cayuga, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton and 38 more8 hr
Jul 20, 7:12 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlbany, Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Essex, Fulton and 15 more2 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in New York, 2021Mesoscale Discussions in Vermont, 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.