Alert archive / North Dakota / Mesoscale Discussions in 2021

Mesoscale Discussion 856

June 5, 202122 counties in North Dakota

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Jun 5, 2021, 8:15 PM MDT for 22 counties in North Dakota. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jun 5, 2021, 8:15 PM MDT (02:15 UTC)
Expired
Jun 5, 2021, 10:15 PM MDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Concerning
Severe potential...watch possible
Chance of a watch
40%
All 22 counties

Adams County, ND, Benson County, ND, Billings County, ND, Bowman County, ND, Burleigh County, ND, Dunn County, ND, Eddy County, ND, Foster County, ND, Grant County, ND, Hettinger County, ND, Kidder County, ND, McHenry County, ND, McLean County, ND, Mercer County, ND, Morton County, ND, Oliver County, ND, Pierce County, ND, Ramsey County, ND, Sheridan County, ND, Slope County, ND, Stark County, ND, Wells County, ND

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 70 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:18 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

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 73 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 2021-06-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1639 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 2021-06-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 11 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
1639 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-19 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3032 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
11 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
118 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

377 
ACUS11 KWNS 060216
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 060215 
NDZ000-SDZ000-MTZ000-060415-

Mesoscale Discussion 0856
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
0915 PM CDT Sat Jun 05 2021

Areas affected...Portions of North Dakota

Concerning...Severe potential...Watch possible 

Valid 060215Z - 060415Z

Probability of Watch Issuance...40 percent

SUMMARY...Thunderstorms are expected to increase in coverage and
intensity this evening across North Dakota. Damaging wind gusts will
be the primary threat. A Severe Thunderstorm Watch may be needed
over the next few hours.

DISCUSSION...While convection has generally struggled over the past
several hours across portions of Montana, very steep low-level lapse
rates have allowed for occasional strong wind gusts even from
relatively unorganized thunderstorms (e.g., most notably a recent
measured 70 mph wind gust in Prairie County Montana). Forecast
guidance continues to suggest this area of convection will become
better organized as it overspreads greater buoyancy across North
Dakota (e.g., 1000-2000 J/kg MLCAPE) over the next few hours.
Additionally, thunderstorm coverage/intensity should also increase
as a southerly low-level jet develops through the evening. 

Damaging wind gusts will be the primary threat from any multicell
cluster or bowing segment, as deeply-mixed boundary layers (per 00Z
regional RAOBs) promote efficient thunderstorm downdrafts. Large
hail will also be possible with the strongest updrafts or with any
storms that can remain semi-discrete given the 30-40 knots of
effective bulk shear.  

While the need for a Severe Thunderstorm Watch remains unclear,
owing to uncertainty regarding overall coverage of severe winds,
trends will continue to be monitored for possible watch issuance
over the next few hours.

..Elliott/Thompson.. 06/06/2021

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

ATTN...WFO...FGF...BIS...UNR...BYZ...

LAT...LON   47290338 48020181 48530015 48689912 48379844 47249831
            46679980 46220146 45870324 45890394 46420408 47290338

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 5, 9:21 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdams, Billings, Bowman, Burleigh, Dunn, Foster and 16 more5 hr
Jun 5, 10:47 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Bowman, Dunn, Grant, Hettinger, McHenry and 8 more88 min
Jun 6, 12:22 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBenson, Burleigh, Cavalier, Eddy, Emmons, Foster and 14 more113 min
Jun 6, 12:39 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBenson, Cavalier, Eddy, Grand Forks, Griggs, Nelson and 6 more3 hr
Jun 6, 1:52 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCMcLean, Oliver, Sheridan, Wells53 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in North Dakota, 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.