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January 1-2 Severe Threat


andyhb

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A strong shortwave impulse looks to emerge over the south central portion of the country over the next 24 hours that will spur on a potentially significant severe threat across mainly the Gulf Coast states. SPC has a slight with a 5% tor for most of south-central/southeast Texas for New Years Day and then a large D2 enhanced for LA/MS/AL on Monday. Certainly looks like there will be plentiful instability with mid-upper 60s dewpoints and rather steep mid level lapse rates approaching or exceeding 7 C/km (barring deleterious morning convection) and ample shear (although perhaps not quite as strong as you'd expect for a cold season event). With that said, the factor of junk convection itself is very vague right now with almost every model having a different idea of how it is going to play out.

The Euro and GFS suggest an area of enhanced NVA and dry air aloft will overspread the warm sector early on Monday that may prevent a lot of early convection, whilst the NAM wants to plow an MCS across the Gulf Coast and effectively wipeout a lot of the potential threat. I get the feeling like it may be somewhere in between.

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Instability is pretty impressive for January, so the setup has that going for it. Junkvection is the biggest question mark, but even with a big MCS, there would probably be QLCS tornadoes and activity with discrete cells ahead of the line in the warm sector. Curious to see if the NAM is right with that thinking; if there isn't a big MCS, this could be a pretty big deal.

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From the National Weather Service in Jackson, Mississippi Area Forecast Discussion this evening...

Monday morning waa will increase over our CWA ahead of the approaching
shortwave and associated surface low. This low pressure system will
track across the ArkLaTex region and to the Tennessee Valley by
Monday evening. All modes of severe weather will be possible over our
CWA starting Monday morning in our northwest and ending over our
southeast early Monday evening. The main threat will be damaging wind
gusts but tornadoes, hail, and heavy rainfall will also be possible.
An Elevated Threat for our whole CWA has been mentioned in our HWO. A
couple of inches of rain across our southeast in a short period of
time may result in flash flooding where a limited threat has been
included again in our HWO. /22/

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 SPC going with a large 5% risk for tor.  
   NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
   1204 AM CST Mon Jan 02 2017

   Valid 021200Z - 031200Z

   ...THERE IS AN ENHANCED RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS MUCH OF
   LOUISIANA...MISSISSIPPI...SOUTHERN ALABAMA AND THE WESTERN FLORIDA
   PANHANDLE...

   ...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SURROUNDING THE
   ENHANCED RISK FROM EAST TEXAS TO WESTERN GEORGIA AND THE EASTERN
   FLORIDA PANHANDLE...

   ...THERE IS A MARGINAL RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SURROUNDING THE
   SLIGHT RISK FROM EAST TEXAS TO THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AND GEORGIA...

   ...SUMMARY...
   Severe thunderstorms are expected today into this evening across
   much of the western through central Gulf states and into portions of
   the Mid South.  All severe hazards will be possible including a few
   tornadoes, with damaging wind gusts being the greatest threat from
   Louisiana through much of Mississippi into southern Alabama and the
   western Florida Panhandle.

   ...Synopsis...
   Models remain consistent with the track and timing of the compact
   and progressive shortwave trough, now emerging into west Texas per
   water vapor imagery, as this system moves east into the lower
   Mississippi Valley by 00Z and should reach Georgia and eastern
   Tennessee by 12Z Tuesday.  Fast zonal mid-upper level flow is
   expected to develop across the Great Basin and southwest states into
   the central and southern Plains to lower Mississippi Valley this
   forecast period which will aid in a more eastward track of the
   compact Texas shortwave trough.  A synoptic surface low attendant to
   this progressive trough is expected to track from east/northeast
   Texas into the ArkLaMiss region by early this evening and reach
   middle Tennessee by late in the forecast period.  A warm front
   extending east from the surface low should make greater northward
   progress from central into northern Mississippi than locations
   farther east, as stronger surface pressure falls are forecast from
   northern Mississippi into the Tennessee Valley.  Meanwhile, a cold
   front trailing south from the low will advance through the lower
   Mississippi Valley into the Gulf Coast states.

   ...East TX to the central/northeast Gulf coast states and TN
   Valley...
   Low-level moistening is already underway with middle 60s surface dew
   points expected across much of Louisiana and the southern halves of
   Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia by early afternoon.  This combined
   with pockets of surface heating and a plume of steep midlevel lapse
   rates (at least 7 c/km in the 500-700 mb layer) spreading across the
   lower Mississippi Valley to western Alabama will boost instability
   to moderate values (1000-1500 j/kg) across the Enhanced risk area.

   Ongoing showers and thunderstorms across the western Florida
   Panhandle through southern Alabama to central Georgia appear to be
   attendant to a midlevel impulse currently tracking across this
   region.  This impulse should reach central Georgia by 12Z today,
   with the potential for some breaks in the cloudiness across the warm
   sector of southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle to southeast
   Mississippi and southeast Louisiana through the morning to early
   afternoon.

   An ongoing band of strong to severe storms is expected across parts
   of East Texas at 12Z today with this band advancing east into a
   destabilizing warm sector across the lower Mississippi Valley
   through this morning and afternoon, while deep-layer wind fields
   strengthen and spread east with the trough.  Deep-layer shear will
   be sufficient for an organized severe storm threat as activity
   spreads east and northeast, with all severe hazards possible.  Given
   a 50 kt southwesterly 700-mb jet spreading across  southern
   Louisiana to southern Alabama this afternoon and evening, this
   region may have the greatest coverage of severe storms with damaging
   winds being the primary threat.

   A separate area of strong to severe storms should develop across the
   central Gulf coast across southeast Louisiana into southwest Alabama
   attendant to a separate midlevel impulse, currently moving across
   Deep South Texas.  Vertically veering and strengthening winds will
   favor all severe hazards with this activity as it spreads into the
   western Florida Panhandle, southern and perhaps central Alabama to
   parts of western Georgia.

   Farther north into Tennessee and southwest Kentucky, instability
   should be elevated with isolated hail being the primary threat with
   storms across these areas.
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