Alert archive / Alabama / Mesoscale Discussions in 2021

Mesoscale Discussion 310

March 31, 202110 counties in Alabama; Greene County, Perry County, Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Mar 31, 2021, 2:15 PM CDT for 10 counties in Alabama; Greene County, Perry County, Mississippi. It was in force for 90 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 31, 2021, 2:15 PM CDT (19:15 UTC)
Expired
Mar 31, 2021, 3:45 PM CDT
In force
90 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Concerning
Severe thunderstorm watch 70

Counties Barbour County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Butler County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Pike County, AL, Russell County, AL, Washington County, AL, Greene County, MS, Perry County, MS

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 136 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:16 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

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 183 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2021-03-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 455 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2021-03-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 273 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
455 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
527 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
273 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
283 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
3.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

367 
ACUS11 KWNS 311916
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 311915 
ALZ000-MSZ000-312045-

Mesoscale Discussion 0310
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
0215 PM CDT Wed Mar 31 2021

Areas affected...southeast Mississippi through southern Alabama

Concerning...Severe Thunderstorm Watch 70...

Valid 311915Z - 312045Z

The severe weather threat for Severe Thunderstorm Watch 70
continues.

SUMMARY...Threat for mainly isolated damaging wind and some hail
will persist next couple of hours from southeast Mississippi through
southern Alabama.

DISCUSSION...As of mid afternoon a line of thunderstorms extends
from near the GA/AL border southwest to south of Selma AL to near
Hattiesburg in southeast MS. The overall line movement is southeast
at 15-20 mph while individual convective elements move more rapidly
east northeast. In the short term (through about 20Z) the greatest
threat for strong to damaging wind appears to be just downstream
from the more organized storm cluster in southwest AL where some
bowing segments have been observed. Storms in southeast AL so far
have had a tendency to be undercut by the outflow boundary. However,
the severe threat in this area may soon increase given short-term
trends showing a tendency for storms to organize near Montgomery.
Surface temperatures have warmed into the low 80s F with low 60s
dewpoints in the warm sector supporting 800-1500 J/kg MLCAPE. While
low-level winds remain weak, shear through a deep layer will
continue to support the potential for embedded organized structures
capable of mainly damaging wind and hail through 21Z.

..Dial.. 03/31/2021

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

ATTN...WFO...TAE...BMX...MOB...JAN...LIX...

LAT...LON   31078940 31238890 31788771 31988712 32178642 32318544
            32318500 31788523 31458590 31148762 30778926 31078940

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 31, 1:55 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlount, Cullman, Fayette, Franklin, Lamar, Lawrence and 5 more2 hr
Mar 31, 10:57 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Chambers, Choctaw and 17 more93 min
Mar 31, 11:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Chambers and 23 more6 hr
Mar 31, 2:52 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Coffee, Covington, Dale, Escambia, Geneva and 2 more53 min
Mar 31, 3:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBaldwin, Coffee, Covington, Dale, Escambia, Geneva and 3 more4 hr
Mar 31, 4:50 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCoffee, Dale, Houston115 min
Mar 30, 9:55 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Grenada, Humphreys, Lafayette and 11 more2 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Alabama, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.