Alert archive / South Carolina / Mesoscale Discussions in 2021
Mesoscale Discussion 224
The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Mar 18, 2021, 3:10 PM EDT for Elbert County, Georgia; 8 counties in North Carolina; 14 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 3 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 18, 2021, 3:10 PM EDT (19:10 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 18, 2021, 5:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Concerning
- Tornado watch 41
All 23 counties
Elbert County, GA, Cabarrus County, NC, Cleveland County, NC, Gaston County, NC, Lincoln County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Rutherford County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Union County, NC, Abbeville County, SC, Anderson County, SC, Cherokee County, SC, Chester County, SC, Fairfield County, SC, Greenville County, SC, Greenwood County, SC, Lancaster County, SC, Laurens County, SC, Newberry County, SC, Saluda County, SC, Spartanburg County, SC, Union County, SC, York County, SC
The radar
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 72 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:10 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
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 7.2 hours before the alert went out and 217 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 486 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 67 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 470 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 562 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted.
212 ACUS11 KWNS 181911 SWOMCD SPC MCD 181910 NCZ000-SCZ000-GAZ000-182145- Mesoscale Discussion 0224 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 0210 PM CDT Thu Mar 18 2021 Areas affected...northern South Carolina into central North Carolina Concerning...Tornado Watch 41... Valid 181910Z - 182145Z The severe weather threat for Tornado Watch 41 continues. SUMMARY...Storms will continue to develop east/northeast across the watch area, and a new watch could be needed into central North Carolina later this afternoon. DISCUSSION...A broken line of cells continues to progress east into northwestern SC, near the surface trough and along and north of the warm front. Surface analysis shows warming and destabilization continues south of this front, and this should allow these storms to persist and perhaps expand in coverage. The greatest severe risk appears to be along the warm front, where storms will experience enhanced lift. Strong deep-layer shear as well as effective SRH of 200-300 m2/s2 will favor supercells at times, with a threat of a brief tornado or damaging gusts. If storm trends continue up over the next few hours, an additional watch could be needed downstream into NC. ..Jewell.. 03/18/2021 ...Please see www.spc.noaa.gov for graphic product... ATTN...WFO...RAH...CAE...GSP...FFC... LAT...LON 33928101 33918311 35518200 35517986 33928101
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 17, 11:15 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Quitman | 90 min |
| Mar 18, 12:02 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baker, Bibb, Butts, Calhoun, Carroll, Chattahoochee and 38 more | 9 hr |
| Mar 18, 2:52 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Chattahoochee, Clay, Marion, Quitman, Randolph, Stewart and 1 more | 83 min |
| Mar 18, 5:28 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clay, Early, Seminole | 92 min |
| Mar 18, 7:32 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Atkinson, Baker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brooks, Calhoun and 28 more | 58 min |
| Mar 18, 7:53 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bleckley, Brooks, Calhoun and 32 more | 5 hr |
| Mar 18, 10:34 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Banks, Barrow, Clarke, Elbert, Franklin, Habersham and 5 more | 2 hr |
| Mar 18, 11:05 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley and 37 more | 115 min |
| Mar 18, 11:42 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Brantley, Bryan, Bulloch and 21 more | 6 hr |
| Mar 18, 2:08 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Elbert, Lincoln | 4 hr |
| Mar 18, 4:45 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alamance, Anson, Chatham, Cumberland, Davidson, Durham and 20 more | 4 hr |
| Mar 18, 5:09 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Hertford and 3 more | 6 hr |
| Mar 18, 5:57 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Cabarrus, Camden and 45 more | 63 min |
| Mar 18, 7:49 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Anson, Chatham, Cumberland, Durham, Edgecombe and 21 more | 56 min |
Nearby
Mesoscale Discussions in South Carolina, 2021Mesoscale Discussions in North Carolina, 2021Mesoscale Discussions in Georgia, 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.