Alert archive / Louisiana / Mesoscale Discussions in 2021

Mesoscale Discussion 691

May 19, 202111 parishes in Louisiana

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 19, 2021, 11:34 PM CDT for 11 parishes in Louisiana. It was in force for 86 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 19, 2021, 11:34 PM CDT (04:34 UTC)
Expired
May 20, 2021, 1:00 AM CDT
In force
86 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Concerning
Severe potential...watch unlikely
Chance of a watch
5%

Counties Acadia Parish, LA, Assumption Parish, LA, Cameron Parish, LA, Iberia Parish, LA, Iberville Parish, LA, Jefferson Davis Parish, LA, Lafayette Parish, LA, Saint Martin Parish, LA, St. Mary Parish, LA, Terrebonne Parish, LA, Vermilion Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 113 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:39 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

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 111 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 2021-05-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 708 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 2021-05-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 217 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
708 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
567 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
217 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
218 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
4.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

193 
ACUS11 KWNS 200434
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 200434 
LAZ000-200600-

Mesoscale Discussion 0691
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
1134 PM CDT Wed May 19 2021

Areas affected...coastal areas of southwest and south-central
Louisiana

Concerning...Severe potential...Watch unlikely 

Valid 200434Z - 200600Z

Probability of Watch Issuance...5 percent

SUMMARY...Strong, gusty thunderstorm winds are possible along
coastal areas of southwest and south-central Louisiana over the next
few hours. A watch is currently not expected.

DISCUSSION...A linear mesoscale convective system (MCS) is
organizing across the northwest Gulf of Mexico and southwest
Louisiana to the northeast of a remnant mesoscale convective vortex
(MCV) across the northwest Gulf of Mexico. Recent radar and
lightning trends have indicated an increase in thunderstorm
intensity with an associated increase in thunderstorm outflow winds.
Given that these thunderstorms are associated with an MCV and moving
into a background environment that is very moist and unstable and
weakly capped, they should continue to persist overnight as they
move east. 

Low-to-mid-level wind profiles are largely southerly across the
region per area VADS. Despite resulting in modest effective-layer
shear, this wind profile will augment thunderstorm outflow winds
with any northward moving convection. In this scenario, a localized
wind threat may materialize with the strongest thunderstorm cores.
Given the orientation of the MCS, this threat would materialized
mostly along coastal areas of southwest and south-central Louisiana,
where thunderstorm winds will also be slightly higher owing to less
surface friction ove the Gulf of Mexico. The threat should remain
fairly brief/localized and a watch is currently not anticipated.

..Marsh/Dial.. 05/20/2021

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

ATTN...WFO...LIX...LCH...

LAT...LON   29669321 30109334 30379309 30359199 30279124 29959074
            29409070 29089096 29119164 29289259 29449302 29669321

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Louisiana, 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.