Alert archive / Louisiana / Mesoscale Discussions in 2021

Mesoscale Discussion 411

April 23, 202118 parishes in Louisiana; 6 counties in Mississippi; 13 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Apr 23, 2021, 5:36 PM CDT for 18 parishes in Louisiana; 6 counties in Mississippi; 13 counties in Texas. It was in force for 54 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 23, 2021, 5:36 PM CDT (22:36 UTC)
Expired
Apr 23, 2021, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
54 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Concerning
Tornado watch 99
All 37 counties

Allen Parish, LA, Avoyelles Parish, LA, Catahoula Parish, LA, Concordia Parish, LA, De Soto Parish, LA, East Feliciana Parish, LA, Evangeline Parish, LA, Grant Parish, LA, LaSalle Parish, LA, Natchitoches Parish, LA, Pointe Coupee Parish, LA, Rapides Parish, LA, Red River Parish, LA, Sabine Parish, LA, Saint Landry Parish, LA, Vernon Parish, LA, West Feliciana Parish, LA, Winn Parish, LA, Adams County, MS, Amite County, MS, Franklin County, MS, Jefferson County, MS, Lincoln County, MS, Wilkinson County, MS, Angelina County, TX, Houston County, TX, Jasper County, TX, Nacogdoches County, TX, Newton County, TX, Polk County, TX, Sabine County, TX, San Augustine County, TX, San Jacinto County, TX, Shelby County, TX, Trinity County, TX, Tyler County, TX, Walker County, TX

The radar

The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 64 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:37 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 watches that followed

Watches SPC issued over any of the same counties within four hours of this discussion.

The nearest sounding before it

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 134 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, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 2021-04-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 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, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 2021-04-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 232 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
912 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
232 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
252 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

248 
ACUS11 KWNS 232236
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 232236 
MSZ000-LAZ000-TXZ000-232330-

Mesoscale Discussion 0411
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
0536 PM CDT Fri Apr 23 2021

Areas affected...Parts of east Texas...central Louisiana into
southwestern Mississippi

Concerning...Tornado Watch 99...

Valid 232236Z - 232330Z

The severe weather threat for Tornado Watch 99 continues.

SUMMARY...It still appears that the large, evolving cluster of
thunderstorms will continue to gradually become better organized as
it spreads  into the lower Mississippi Valley through early evening,
accompanied by at least increasing potential for damaging wind
gusts.  Trends are being monitored for an additional severe weather
watch downstream.

DISCUSSION...A large and sustained cluster of storms continues to
evolve, with strongest convection along a corridor arcing from
southeast of College Station, TX into the Fort Polk, LA vicinity. 
This appears to be near the northern periphery of warmer and more
strongly capping mid-level air associated with subtropical ridging. 
It is being supported by lift associated with lower/mid tropospheric
warm advection, beneath a strongly divergent upper flow field
associated with coupled speed maxima  along the subtropical jet. 
The forcing, and associated convection are forecast to continue
developing fairly rapidly east-northeastward into the lower
Mississippi Valley through 00-02Z.

Southerly 850 mb flow on the order of 40+ kt appears to be
supporting moistening inflow, with lifted parcels characterized by
at least modest CAPE on the order of 500-1000 J/kg.    This likely
will continue, but the the motion of convection may still be
outpacing the advection of more substantive boundary-layer
instability, with leading stratiform precipitation tending to
maintain stable to neutral near-surface lapse rates northeast of
activity.

Still, there has been a strong signal within model output that an
evolving mesoscale convective vortex will be accompanied by
intensifying wind fields to 50-70+ kt within the 850-700 mb layer
across and east of the lower Mississippi Valley this evening.  As
this occurs, the risk for potentially damaging wind gusts seems
likely to increase somewhere across central Louisiana into
southwestern Mississippi.  A risk for tornadoes may also develop,
but this will largely hinge on further boundary-layer moistening and
destabilization of near-surface lapse rates.

..Kerr.. 04/23/2021

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

ATTN...WFO...JAN...LIX...LCH...SHV...HGX...

LAT...LON   31899450 32149338 32039205 31549027 30289163 30689321
            30769383 30449548 30689597 31789509 31899450

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 23, 12:43 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, De Soto, Jefferson Davis and 3 more2 hr
Apr 23, 2:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAcadia, Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Caldwell and 13 more7 hr
Apr 23, 11:29 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArcher, Bastrop, Bell, Bexar, Blanco, Bosque and 52 more91 min
Apr 23, 12:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAnderson, Archer, Bastrop, Bell, Blanco, Bosque and 53 more7 hr
Apr 23, 12:43 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaylor, Childress, Collingsworth, Cottle, Foard, Hall and 2 more3 hr
Apr 23, 3:14 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCArcher, Baylor, Childress, Clay, Collingsworth, Cottle and 7 more5 hr
Apr 23, 3:27 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaylor, Foard, Hardeman, Wilbarger2 hr
Apr 23, 3:28 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBosque, Brown, Comanche, Eastland, Erath, Hamilton and 11 more2 hr
Apr 23, 5:26 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArcher, Baylor, Clay, Foard, Hardeman, Knox and 2 more2 hr
Apr 23, 6:46 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtascosa, Bell, Bexar, Blanco, Bosque, Burnet and 19 more89 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Louisiana, 2021Mesoscale Discussions in Texas, 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.