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March 2012 Central/Western Obs/Disco


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Man, I would kill for a 2007-esque severe season. We had our first storm up here in late March that year. There was snow on the ground and we got a dandy elevated cell that came through overnight. Unreal lightning show for March.

That year also gave us the four day outbreak here in southern MB which included the Elie and Pipestone tornadoes on back-to-back days.

We have a strong southerly flow affecting southern MB today. Some nice WAA going on. Our low tonight looks to hover right around zero.

Bring on the torch!

:weenie: :weenie: :weenie: Why again do I frequent this board? LOL, just a joke. Crawling into my storm shelter until September, see you all then. :D

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Undoubtedly one of the worst winters I have seen. Spring doesn't look much better for winter lovers and anomalous spring/winter dumps either.

A couple weeks ago I would have said the same but things changed for the better around here anyways, but nationwide I would say yeah its been pretty awful this winter. The upcoming weeks ahead I would agree are not looking good, lakes cutter after lakes cutter, actually they might be west of the lakes, anyways there is just no cold to be found. :thumbsdown:

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A couple weeks ago I would have said the same but things changed for the better around here anyways, but nationwide I would say yeah its been pretty awful this winter. The upcoming weeks ahead I would agree are not looking good, lakes cutter after lakes cutter, actually they might be west of the lakes, anyways there is just no cold to be found. :thumbsdown:

Yeah you had a nice little reprieve up there in the N country. Torchfest look bad for everyone though. + Temperature anomalies will extend well into Canada as well.

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The medium range is certainly looking interesting for potential severe day 8 and beyond. The torch is inevitable, but some guidance in the GEFS would be potential significant severe episodes across the southern plains into the central plains along the dryline. Moisture flow is going to be unabated all the way into the northern plains. Teleconnection wise, it seems like a high probability...it just depends on how the trough ejects/tilt config. Even neutral tilt that would potentially be an active dryline.

12z GFS OP/ensembles are pretty crazy.

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12z GFS OP/ensembles are pretty crazy.

Too early to get all amped up for Day 10 threats, but from a large scale synoptic perspective, the overall pattern is conducive to a potential bout of severe somewhere across the central/southern plains. Bermuda high is nicely placed, trajectories long, impressive early season moisture return. Trough config/ejecting strength a big question mark as one would expect. Potential is there though somewhere along the dryline depending on shorter wave length disturbances embedded within the trough. Interesting to see how this potential negative tilt western trough develops.

post-999-0-06935100-1331332499.gif

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This is out of the WFO ARX (Laccrosse WI) from the last last paragraph of their AFD...interesting indeed.

.LONG TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

332 PM CST FRI MAR 9 2012

09.12Z GFS/ECMWF CONTINUE THE UNSEASONABLY MILD WEATHER PATTERN

THROUGH THE PERIOD. GEFS STILL INDICATING AROUND +2 STANDARD

DEVIATIONS WHICH INDICATES NEAR RECORD VALUES FOR HIGH TEMPERATURES

THROUGH THE PERIOD IN THE 60S/LOWER 70S. MAIN CONCERN/FLY IN THE

OINTMENT WILL BE A COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE ON WEDNESDAY AND THE

POTENTIAL FOR THUNDERSTORMS. ECMWF SHOWING NEAR 1500J/KG OF 0-3KM

MUCAPE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON ALONG WITH RESPECTABLE AMOUNT OF SHEAR.

WILL THEREFORE HAVE TO KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THIS FOR SEVERE

POTENTIAL. APPEARS BEST THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL BE SOUTHEAST OF A

LINE FROM NECEDAH AND VIROQUA WISCONSIN...TO FAYETTE IA.

HOWEVER...DUE TO POSSIBILITY OF A STRONG CAP/TIMING OF FRONT...KEPT

POPS LOW AT THIS TIME.

It could be a rather interesting season in the Upper Mississippi Valley/Upper Midwest this year. The SE ridge could settle in further north than last year bringing the battle ground further north as well.

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Too early to get all amped up for Day 10 threats, but from a large scale synoptic perspective, the overall pattern is conducive to a potential bout of severe somewhere across the central/southern plains. Bermuda high is nicely placed, trajectories long, impressive early season moisture return. Trough config/ejecting strength a big question mark as one would expect. Potential is there though somewhere along the dryline depending on shorter wave length disturbances embedded within the trough. Interesting to see how this potential negative tilt western trough develops.

What I like about it is that it is actually moving forward in timeframe consistently.

12z GGEM now showing something very large developing off the west coast towards the end of its run as well.

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What I like about it is that it is actually moving forward in timeframe consistently.

12z GGEM now showing something very large developing off the west coast towards the end of its run as well.

I agree and I think that is what is key and that it is showing up consistently, track and qpf are irrelevant at this stage. Just to have something there means something COULD happen.

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This whole set up reminds me of 2010 where MSP had zero snowfall for March, sure this year we have had some but it came very early. I don't see any snowfall for the rest of March. In 2010 we had to wait until May or June before we had any cape values here, but then when it happened all H**L broke loose as we (Minnesota) led the nation with 113 tornado's that year. The big difference this year is that the models, in particular the Euro are bringing cape values into the Northern Plains/Upper Mississippi Valley/ Upper Midwest during mid to late March. This pattern is about one and a half to two months earlier than 2010. I hope I'm wrong but I think it will be very active around here.

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Here is the Japanese model forecast for MAM

And the CFSV2temp2.glob.MAM2012.1feb2012.gif

usT2mSea.gif

Looks to me as if the severe season will go north. I would seriously like to here what the professional mets think about this. I could post the MJO, but I think we all know how to find that.

sorry, that didn't format right, still learning how to use this site

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Regarding next weekend: agreement on the overall pattern is quite good, and has been for several days now. What we're seeing over the next 7-10 days reminds me a lot of late March 2007: prolonged, broad eastern ridging that allows our reservoir of boundary-layer moisture to build to borderline-unseasonable levels before the arrival of a major western trough.

In my opinion, we're already entering the timeframe in which the main concern is down to the details of the trough evolution. There are lots of different ways that could still go, some of them greatly minimizing severe potential. The biggest concern I have is the possibility that the trough stalls farther west than currently suggested, then shears out a few days later as a positive-tilt, lifting mess. If it can progress towards and dig into the Four Corners and southern Rockies, however, a notable severe event would be rather likely.

IMO, for Plains severe weather events outside of the May-June timeframe, moisture is king. If you get a lot of moisture to accompany a major trough in the early spring or fall, the probability of something noteworthy shoots up. Right now, the moisture situation looks anomalously "good" for mid-March. We'll see if that continues over the next week.

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Regarding next weekend: agreement on the overall pattern is quite good, and has been for several days now. What we're seeing over the next 7-10 days reminds me a lot of late March 2007: prolonged, broad eastern ridging that allows our reservoir of boundary-layer moisture to build to borderline-unseasonable levels before the arrival of a major western trough.

In my opinion, we're already entering the timeframe in which the main concern is down to the details of the trough evolution. There are lots of different ways that could still go, some of them greatly minimizing severe potential. The biggest concern I have is the possibility that the trough stalls farther west than currently suggested, then shears out a few days later as a positive-tilt, lifting mess. If it can progress towards and dig into the Four Corners and southern Rockies, however, a notable severe event would be rather likely.

IMO, for Plains severe weather events outside of the May-June timeframe, moisture is king. If you get a lot of moisture to accompany a major trough in the early spring or fall, the probability of something noteworthy shoots up. Right now, the moisture situation looks anomalously "good" for mid-March. We'll see if that continues over the next week.

Still plenty to go synoptically, agreed.

Reminds me a little, however, of May 2007 synoptic setup with Greensburg (still not as amplified as that event). That event came down to a short wave length feature embedded in that beast negative tilt trough for much of the severe activity that day. Trough configuration here looks similar in some of the guidance. Interestingly...a lot of guidance also progging a potential weak lead southern stream anomaly...similar to May 4-5, 2007.

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ECMWF at day 7. Looks pretty similar to the 12Z. Verbatim would still be slower and dig farther S than the GFS. I am guessing ejection would come a full day later.

Would be a hell of a birthday for me.

Huge Bermuda High in place too.

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192:

Fails to really eject at 216 though, although that could be the Euro's bias of holding back energy in the SW too long.

Yeah the EC certainly has a strong positive tilt wave with mostly leeside cyclogenesis/WAA along the entire length of the Rockies. Results in an elongated leeside cyclone. Still a long way to go with this.

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Yeah, I'm really thinking the models are going to be all over the place with regards on how to resolve all of the UL energy associated with this feature/large scale pattern.

Edit: GGEM is going big, although a bit further north it looks like than the GFS or Euro...

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Yeah pretty much, although I'm not exactly sure how realistic that is :lmao:

GFS ensemble mean is crazy...jesus...

Yes...that is a 991 mb SLP on an ensemble mean...wow, its in a historically classic position for a Plains severe weather event too.

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00z Euro ensemble mean...yikes

Look at the way the diffluent right side of the ejecting mid level jet punches right into the warm sector of the sfc cyclogenesis. Given the amplitude/size of the trough, that is probably a very strong upper/mid level jet as well.

Also has the stout Bermuda Ridge providing moisture transport, like the other models.

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The ECMWF and its ensembles probably hold it back too much for a big event next weekend (elongated SLP, capping and lack of dynamic forcing, etc.), but even in that scenario, I still think something significant would be inevitable as more energy dives into the wrn US trough over the following several days.

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The ECMWF and its ensembles probably hold it back too much for a big event next weekend (elongated SLP, capping and lack of dynamic forcing, etc.), but even in that scenario, I still think something significant would be inevitable as more energy dives into the wrn US trough over the following several days.

Not exactly sure I agree with that, I'd have to think there would be a possible dryline setup on Saint Patrick's Day with the Euro ensemble's verbatim, possibly even on the next day too.

Remember that ensemble means are difficult to gauge for movement of SLP's, shortwave impulses and other features within the large scale pattern. The reason I am posting the ensemble means is because it is pretty rare to see such a strong and similar solution across the ensembles this far out.

Although I'd agree about the Euro OP, something tells me it is holding back the energy in the SW too long like it commonly does in this range, and yes, it shows the very large/energetic western trough re-establishing itself almost immediately, as do the other models.

Edit: The GGEM ensembles are virtually identical through 144...pretty interesting.

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Not exactly sure I agree with that, I'd have to think there would be a possible dryline setup on Saint Patrick's Day with the Euro ensemble's verbatim, possibly even on the next day too.

Remember that ensemble means are difficult to gauge for movement of SLP's, shortwave impulses and other features within the large scale pattern.

Although I'd agree about the Euro OP, and yes, it shows the very large/energetic western trough re-establishing itself almost immediately.

Fair point regarding the ensembles; I probably shouldn't try to read that much into them given nothing more than an H5/MSLP mean plot.

I do want to make the general comment, just based on closely monitoring Plains severe for the past 5-6 years and also researching some historical cases, that back-to-back dryline days of significance are almost unheard of this early in the season. Or, to put it another way, most significant events that happen in the southern/central Plains before ~April 15 seem to involve a trough that plows through, rather than lingering west and spitting out multiple waves. The latter scenario is much more of a mid-late spring phenomenon, at least within the set of cases I'm familiar with. That's not to say a trough can't linger west and then eventually eject with one significant day; just that I wouldn't expect day after day of big dryline stuff in the interim.

To me, the GFS looks much closer to what I'd envision as a big early-spring Plains event (scary close, actually). But then I'd do well to remember March 28, 2007, which largely defied climatology and burned some people with my mindset.

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Fair point regarding the ensembles; I probably shouldn't try to read that much into them given nothing more than an H5/MSLP mean plot.

I do want to make the general comment, just based on closely monitoring Plains severe for the past 5-6 years and also researching some historical cases, that back-to-back dryline days of significance are almost unheard of this early in the season. Or, to put it another way, most significant events that happen in the southern/central Plains before ~April 15 seem to involve a trough that plows through, rather than lingering west and spitting out multiple waves. The latter scenario is much more of a mid-late spring phenomenon, at least within the set of cases I'm familiar with. That's not to say a trough can't linger west and then eventually eject with one significant day; just that I wouldn't expect day after day of big dryline stuff in the interim.

To me, the GFS looks much closer to what I'd envision as a big early-spring Plains event (scary close, actually). But then I'd do well to remember March 28, 2007, which largely defied climatology and burned some people with my mindset.

Excellent point here.

I was more referring that if we didn't get it on one day, the other may provide it instead (I.E. either Saint Patrick's Day or my birthday).

And then with the GFS, I checked a few of the progged soundings and saw some scary wind profiles across the Plains (especially KS, OK and TX) on Saturday with the verbatim, good bulk shear vectors for supercells and plenty of moisture already showing up too, although that's getting a bit too specific at this point, just wanted to add to your comment there.

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This is when you have watch out for early Spring setups:

DAY 4-8 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK

NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK

0321 AM CST SAT MAR 10 2012

VALID 131200Z - 181200Z

...DISCUSSION...

A SLOW EVOLUTION TOWARD WRN U.S. TROUGHING WILL BE NOTED DURING THE

UPCOMING WEEK. THE LATEST ECMWF AND GFS DIFFER GREATLY IN DETAILS

REGARDING INDIVIDUAL IMPULSES/SHORT-WAVE TROUGHS THAT EJECT NEWD

ACROSS THE CONUS WITHIN AN OTHERWISE RELATIVELY MODEST-WEAK MID-HIGH

LEVEL FLOW REGIME. TOWARD THE END OF THE PERIOD THE GFS IS MUCH

MORE AGGRESSIVE IN ITS EWD PROGRESSION OF STRONG FLOW INTO THE BASE

OF THE DEVELOPING WRN U.S. TROUGH OVER THE SRN ROCKIES/HIGH PLAINS.

THE ECMWF LAGS CONSIDERABLY WITH THE STRONGER FLOW ACROSS CA. ONE

THING APPEARS PROBABLE...MOISTURE/INSTABILITY WILL GRADUALLY

INCREASE OVER MUCH OF THE CONUS EAST OF THE ROCKIES AS LOW LEVEL

TRAJECTORIES BECOME MORE FAVORABLE FOR GULF AIR MASS TO RETURN

INLAND. GIVEN THE UNCERTAINTIES NOTED ABOVE THE PREDICTABILITY OF

ORGANIZED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN LOW THIS PERIOD.

..DARROW.. 03/10/2012

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