Alert archive / Minnesota / Mesoscale Discussions in 2021

Mesoscale Discussion 1331

July 23, 202110 counties in Minnesota; Traill County, North Dakota

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Jul 23, 2021, 1:25 PM CDT for 10 counties in Minnesota; Traill County, North Dakota. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 23, 2021, 1:25 PM CDT (18:25 UTC)
Expired
Jul 23, 2021, 3:30 PM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Concerning
Severe potential...watch possible
Chance of a watch
40%

Counties Beltrami County, MN, Clearwater County, MN, Hubbard County, MN, Mahnomen County, MN, Marshall County, MN, Norman County, MN, Pennington County, MN, Polk County, MN, Red Lake County, MN, Roseau County, MN, Traill County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 110 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:24 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

International Fa, MN (KINL), launched 12:00Z, 6.4 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, International Fa, MN at 12:00Z on 2021-07-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 470 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, International Fa, MN at 12:00Z on 2021-07-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 112 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
470 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-131 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
725 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
112 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
115 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

448 
ACUS11 KWNS 231825
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 231825 
MNZ000-NDZ000-232030-

Mesoscale Discussion 1331
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
0125 PM CDT Fri Jul 23 2021

Areas affected...Northwest Minnesota

Concerning...Severe potential...Watch possible 

Valid 231825Z - 232030Z

Probability of Watch Issuance...40 percent

SUMMARY...Thunderstorms may develop sooner than forecast guidance
has suggested, possibly within the next couple of hours. Large hail
and damaging winds would be the main threats this afternoon/evening.
Trends are being monitored for a possible severe thunderstorm watch.

DISCUSSION...Temperatures in northwestern Minnesota have risen into
the low 90s F. This has occurred quicker than forecast guidance has
suggested. With dewpoints still holding in the low 70s F, MLCAPE is
also increasing to above 1500 J/kg. Within this environment, a field
of cumulus has developed along with a handful of deeper towers in
the vicinity of Thief River Falls. With an upstream shortwave trough
evident on water vapor imagery within western/central North Dakota,
subtle mid-level cooling will occur in northern Minnesota this
afternoon. These factors would suggest that convection initiation is
becoming more probable, perhaps as early as within the next couple
of hours. With all 12Z guidance forecasting initiation during the
late afternoon, timing remains the greatest uncertainty. When storms
develop, long, straight hodographs with 35-40 kts of effective shear
will favor splitting supercells capable of damaging winds and large
hail. A severe thunderstorm watch is possible this afternoon
depending on convective trends over the next few hours.

..Wendt/Hart.. 07/23/2021

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

ATTN...WFO...DLH...FGF...

LAT...LON   47519741 48339689 48949640 49029567 48679464 48199411
            47449404 46989473 46969686 47209732 47519741

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 23, 4:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAitkin, Becker, Beltrami, Carlton, Cass, Clearwater and 12 more7 hr
Jul 22, 9:04 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBurke, Divide, Williams116 min
Jul 23, 5:04 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarnes, Cass, Dickey, Emmons, Grant, LaMoure and 6 more3 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Minnesota, 2021Mesoscale Discussions in North Dakota, 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.