Alert archive / Florida / Mesoscale Discussions in 2021

Mesoscale Discussion 1538

August 16, 2021Henry County, Houston County, Alabama; 12 counties in Florida; 11 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Aug 16, 2021, 6:26 PM CDT for Henry County, Houston County, Alabama; 12 counties in Florida; 11 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 64 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 16, 2021, 6:26 PM CDT (23:26 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 2021, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Concerning
Tornado watch 441
All 25 counties

Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Franklin County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Jefferson County, FL, Leon County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Madison County, FL, Taylor County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Baker County, GA, Brooks County, GA, Colquitt County, GA, Cook County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Early County, GA, Grady County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Thomas County, GA

The radar

The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 34 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:24 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 nearest sounding before it

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 37 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2021-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 368 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2021-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 40 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
368 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-22 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
754 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

970 
ACUS11 KWNS 162326
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 162326 
FLZ000-GAZ000-ALZ000-170030-

Mesoscale Discussion 1538
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
0626 PM CDT Mon Aug 16 2021

Areas affected...Tropical Storm Fred

Concerning...Tornado Watch 441...

Valid 162326Z - 170030Z

The severe weather threat for Tornado Watch 441 continues.

SUMMARY...Some low tornado potential remains with Tropical Storm
Fred; however, a new tornado watch may not be warranted.

DISCUSSION...Tropical Storm Fred has moved inland with the center of
circulation northeast of Panama City. Boundary-layer air mass is not
particularly buoyant ahead of Fred as surface temperatures are
mostly in the mid-upper 70s across ww441. With poor instability,
strong circulations have been limited, though several long-lived,
shallow, rotating showers persist, especially from western
Taylor-Leon-Decatur County corridor. In the absence of steeper
low-level lapse rates, any boundary-layer cooling will likely prove
detrimental toward updraft intensity. Will continue to monitor
downstream regions for possible new tornado watch, however it's not
clear at this time a new watch is warranted.

..Darrow.. 08/16/2021

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

ATTN...WFO...TAE...

LAT...LON   29528554 31558553 31398333 29378333 29528554

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 7:33 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCHouston13 hr
Aug 16, 5:26 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFranklin3 hr
Aug 16, 9:20 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFranklin, Wakulla115 min
Aug 16, 11:36 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFranklin, Taylor, Wakulla114 min
Aug 16, 2:55 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDixie, Gilchrist, Jefferson, Lafayette, Levy, Taylor2 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Florida, 2021Mesoscale Discussions in Georgia, 2021Mesoscale Discussions in Alabama, 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.