Alert archive / Louisiana / Mesoscale Discussions in 2021

Mesoscale Discussion 14

January 6, 202121 parishes in Louisiana; Amite County, Pike County, Wilkinson County, Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Jan 6, 2021, 9:38 PM CST for 21 parishes in Louisiana; Amite County, Pike County, Wilkinson County, Mississippi. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jan 6, 2021, 9:38 PM CST (03:38 UTC)
Expired
Jan 6, 2021, 11:45 PM CST
In force
2 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Concerning
Severe potential...watch unlikely
Chance of a watch
5%
All 24 counties

Ascension Parish, LA, Assumption Parish, LA, Avoyelles Parish, LA, East Baton Rouge Parish, LA, East Feliciana Parish, LA, Iberia Parish, LA, Iberville Parish, LA, Lafayette Parish, LA, Livingston Parish, LA, Pointe Coupee Parish, LA, Saint Helena Parish, LA, Saint James Parish, LA, Saint John the Baptist Parish, LA, Saint Landry Parish, LA, Saint Martin Parish, LA, St. Mary Parish, LA, Tangipahoa Parish, LA, Terrebonne Parish, LA, Vermilion Parish, LA, West Baton Rouge Parish, LA, West Feliciana Parish, LA, Amite County, MS, Pike County, MS, Wilkinson County, MS

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 3.6 hours before the alert went out and 141 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 2021-01-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 28 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 2021-01-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 336 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
28 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-22 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
655 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
68 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
336 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
366 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

759 
ACUS11 KWNS 070338
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 070338 
LAZ000-MSZ000-070545-

Mesoscale Discussion 0014
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
0938 PM CST Wed Jan 06 2021

Areas affected...Southern Louisiana

Concerning...Severe potential...Watch unlikely 

Valid 070338Z - 070545Z

Probability of Watch Issuance...5 percent

SUMMARY...Thunderstorms overspreading the region through Midnight-1
AM are generally expected to remain sub-severe, but sporadic,
localized damaging wind gusts are possible, with an isolated tornado
not completely out of the question, particularly near coastal areas.

DISCUSSION...An organized mesoscale convective system has been
maintained beneath strongly difluent mid/upper flow, just ahead of
the vigorous short wave trough which continues to pivot toward the
Sabine River/Piney Woods vicinity.  A number of lower/mid
tropospheric cyclonic circulations have developed within the line,
which has been advancing eastward around 30-35 kt, within sheared,
30-60+ kt in the 850-500 mb layer (veering from southerly to
west-southwesterly with height).  

Despite the strong forcing and favorable kinematic environment,
thermodynamic profiles characterized by generally weak lapse rates
and rather modest to weak low-level moisture (even over the
northwestern Gulf of Mexico) remain limiting factors concerning
severe weather potential.  Across and inland of Louisiana coastal
areas, at least a shallow near-surface stable layer lingers, with
little appreciable increase in surface dew points across southern
Louisiana as temperatures have begun to cool.

The recent gust to 37 kt at Lake Charles is probably indicative of
the general wind gust potential with the squall line as it
progresses eastward into the lower Mississippi Valley through
05-07Z.  However, localized stronger, potentially damaging, wind
gusts and perhaps an isolated tornado might not be entirely out of
the question, mainly along a weak baroclinic zone near immediate
coastal areas.

..Kerr/Grams.. 01/07/2021

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

ATTN...WFO...JAN...LIX...LCH...

LAT...LON   30199219 31319199 31309023 29299044 28259229 28379309
            30199219

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Louisiana, 2021Mesoscale Discussions in Mississippi, 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.