Alert archive / Illinois / Mesoscale Discussions in 2021

Mesoscale Discussion 1641

August 29, 202126 counties in Illinois; Lake County, Newton County, Indiana; Kenosha County, Wisconsin

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Aug 29, 2021, 1:18 PM CDT for 26 counties in Illinois; Lake County, Newton County, Indiana; Kenosha County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 87 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 29, 2021, 1:18 PM CDT (18:18 UTC)
Expired
Aug 29, 2021, 2:45 PM CDT
In force
87 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Concerning
Severe potential...watch unlikely
Chance of a watch
20%
All 29 counties

Bureau County, IL, Champaign County, IL, Cook County, IL, DeKalb County, IL, DuPage County, IL, Ford County, IL, Grundy County, IL, Henry County, IL, Iroquois County, IL, Kane County, IL, Kankakee County, IL, Kendall County, IL, Knox County, IL, Lake County, IL, LaSalle County, IL, Lee County, IL, Livingston County, IL, Marshall County, IL, McHenry County, IL, McLean County, IL, Peoria County, IL, Putnam County, IL, Stark County, IL, Tazewell County, IL, Will County, IL, Woodford County, IL, Lake County, IN, Newton County, IN, Kenosha County, WI

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:20 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

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 124 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, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2021-08-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 810 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, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2021-08-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 63 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
810 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-63 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1215 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
63 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

590 
ACUS11 KWNS 291818
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 291818 
INZ000-ILZ000-WIZ000-291945-

Mesoscale Discussion 1641
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
0118 PM CDT Sun Aug 29 2021

Areas affected...Northern Illinois and far Northwestern Indiana

Concerning...Severe potential...Watch unlikely 

Valid 291818Z - 291945Z

Probability of Watch Issuance...20 percent

SUMMARY...A few multicell storms capable of isolated damaging wind
gusts possible this afternoon.

DISCUSSION...Regional radar show a line of storms that have
initiated along a cold front across northern and northwestern
Illinois. Minimal cloud cover this morning has allowed the
downstream surface environment to warm rapidly into the mid 80s F
amid rich low-level moisture (dew point temperatures in the low 70s
F). This has allowed the atmosphere to destabilize, resulting in
MLCAPE values near 2000-2500 J/kg. Low-level winds are veered ahead
of the front and forecast soundings indicate predominately
unidirectional shear profiles. This area is situated along the
southern periphery of the advancing mid-level trough, and thus,
generally weak flow aloft is yielding little in the way of
deep-layer shear (effective bulk shear perhaps approaching 20 kt).
Nevertheless, continued heating through the afternoon may yield
low-level lapse rates near 7 C/km sufficient to aid in the threat
for localized damaging wind gusts with any multicell clusters that
are able to persist along the advancing front this afternoon.

..Karstens/Grams.. 08/29/2021

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

ATTN...WFO...IND...LOT...ILX...MKX...DVN...

LAT...LON   40278979 41089065 42018914 42978811 42688760 41478713
            40538741 40118799 40278979

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 29, 3:08 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCElkhart, Fulton, Jasper, Kosciusko, LaGrange, LaPorte and 9 more97 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Illinois, 2021Mesoscale Discussions in Indiana, 2021Mesoscale Discussions in Wisconsin, 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.