Alert archive / Maine / Mesoscale Discussions in 2021
Mesoscale Discussion 56
The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Feb 2, 2021, 4:46 PM EST for 13 counties in Maine. It was in force for 4 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 2, 2021, 4:46 PM EST (21:46 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 2, 2021, 8:45 PM EST
- In force
- 4 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Concerning
- Winter mixed precipitation
Counties Androscoggin County, ME, Aroostook County, ME, Franklin County, ME, Hancock County, ME, Kennebec County, ME, Knox County, ME, Lincoln County, ME, Penobscot County, ME, Piscataquis County, ME, Sagadahoc County, ME, Somerset County, ME, Waldo County, ME, Washington County, ME
The radar
The Caribou radar (KCBW), 107 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:48 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
Caribou, ME (KCAR), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 172 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
- 908 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 46 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 210 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 194 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted.
706
ACUS11 KWNS 022147
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 022146
MEZ000-030145-
Mesoscale Discussion 0056
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
0346 PM CST Tue Feb 02 2021
Areas affected...Much of Maine
Concerning...Winter mixed precipitation
Valid 022146Z - 030145Z
SUMMARY...Moderate to heavy snow is expected to persist for at least
a few more hours across northern ME, with a snow/sleet mix
persisting from central ME southward. Instances of 1 inch/hr
snowfall rates remain possible.
DISCUSSION...850 mb warm-air advection continues to overspread ME as
a low-level cyclone continues to advance north along the New England
coast. In addition, the 18Z GYX sounding indicates that at/above
freezing 850 mb temperatures have already reached inland. As such,
850 mb temperatures are expected to reach just above freezing across
portions of interior central/southern ME, suggesting that a
snow/sleet mix should persist. As evident in KCBW and KGYX
dual-polarimetric radar data, a snow/sleet mix is ongoing in two
distinct northward moving bands (one in Penobscot/Washington
Counties and another extending from Cumberland to Lincoln Counties).
As these bands continue northward into northern ME, snow is expected
to remain the main precipitation type, as 850 mb temperatures are
likely to remain sub-freezing, and instances of around 1 inch/hr
snowfall rates remain possible.
..Squitieri.. 02/02/2021
...Please see www.spc.noaa.gov for graphic product...
ATTN...WFO...CAR...GYX...
LAT...LON 44506799 43896907 43756951 43866994 44677088 45167096
46067041 47176967 47596912 47356813 46966777 45926751
45356721 45016727 44506799SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 1, 7:27 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | York | 6 hr |
| Feb 2, 2:18 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Androscoggin, Aroostook, Franklin, Hancock, Kennebec, Oxford and 5 more | 6 hr |
| Feb 2, 10:52 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Aroostook, Hancock, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Washington | 6 hr |
Nearby
Mesoscale Discussions in Maine, 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.