Alert archive / New Mexico / Flash Flood Warnings in 1987

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 22, 1987Eddy County, New Mexico

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this flash flood warning at May 22, 1987, 10:00 PM MDT for Eddy County, New Mexico. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 22, 1987, 10:00 PM MDT (04:00 UTC)
Expired
May 23, 1987, 12:00 AM MDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Eddy County, NM

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 00:00Z, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 206 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, Midland Regional, TX at 00:00Z on 1987-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 998 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Midland Regional, TX at 00:00Z on 1987-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -2 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 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
998 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1548 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-10 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KABQ 230400
FFWABQ
NMC015-230600-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
1000 PM MDT FRI MAY 22 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO
          ...EASTERN AND SOUTHERN EDDY
 
NEARLY THREE AND THREE QUARTER INCHES OF RAIN /3.74/ FELL AT THE
CARLSBAD NM AIRPORT IN THE SPACE OF AN HOUR AND A HALF.  ALTHOUGH THE
HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORM RAINS HAVE SHIFTED TO THE EAST AND NORTHEAST OF
THE CITY OF CARLSBAD...RADAR INDICATES THAT MORE THUNDERSTORMS ARE
DEVELOPING OVER THE MOUNTAINS NEAR CARLSBAD CAVERNS NATIONAL PARK.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY MOVE OVER AREAS ALREADY VISITED BY TORRENTIAL
RAINS...RESULTING IN MORE FLASH FLOODING OVER EASTERN AND SOUTHERN
EDDY COUNTY.
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.  IF gFLASH FLOODING IS
OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY.  MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS.  DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 22, 9:31 PM MDT, 29 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND, TX
1025PM CDT FRI MAY 22 1987

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN THE ODESSA/MIDLAND AREA...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATES THAT VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS
ARE NOW BUILDING OVER GOLDSMITH...NORTHWEST OF ODESSA. THEY ARE MOVING
SLOWLY TO THE EAST...AT 10 MPH.

RESIDENTS OF ECTOR AND MIDLAND COUNTIES SHOULD BE AWARE THAT THESE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MOVING ACROSS THE AREA...DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS.

STAY TUNED TO LOCAL RADIO/TV...AND NOAA WEATHER RADIO.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 22, 8:02 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy58 min
May 22, 9:00 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningMAFEddy60 min
May 22, 9:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy60 min
May 23, 11:28 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea62 min
May 23, 11:38 AM MDTTornado WarningMAFLea67 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in New Mexico, 1987Every flash flood warning in 1987

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.