Alert archive / New Mexico / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 5, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

July 27, 1990Lea County, New Mexico

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this flash flood warning at Jul 27, 1990, 6:13 PM MDT for Lea County, New Mexico. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 27, 1990, 6:13 PM MDT (00:13 UTC)
Expired
Jul 27, 1990, 9:15 PM MDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Lea 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, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 147 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 1990-07-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 151 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, Midland Regional, TX at 00:00Z on 1990-07-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -10 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
151 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-60 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2240 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
63 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 KMAF 280108 COR
FFWMAF
NMC025-280315-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING...CORRECTION...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
713 PM CDT (613 PM MDT) FRI JUL 27 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 PM CDT (915 PM MDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO

   ...EASTERN LEA COUNTY

AT 608 PM MDT THE CIVIL DEFENSE DIRECTOR FOR LEA COUNTY REPORTED
FLOODING JUST NORTH OF THE CITY OF HOBBS. SOME HOMES ARE ALREADY
FLOODED.  THIS AREA IS A NATURAL DRAINAGE AREA AND SHOULD BE
AVOIDED FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURING OR IS
IMMINENT. MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER
COVERS THE ROADWAY. NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...
EVEN A SMALL ONE....ON FOOT. TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP
TO HIGHER GROUND.

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, Jul 27, 2:39 PM MDT, 3 hours 34 minutes before
TXZ007-008-010>018-024-034-050>054-NMZ013-272200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
340 PM CDT FRI JUL 27 1990

AT 325 PM CDT...NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS WITH SMALL HAIL AND VERY
HEAVY RAIN WERE SCATTERED FROM MARFA TEXAS TO HOBBS NEW MEXICO
AND LUBBOCK TEXAS.

SMALL HAIL WAS REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC 15 MILES WEST OF PECOS IN
REEVES COUNTY. THUNDERSTORMS AND SOME RAINSHOWERS WERE LOCATED
IN THE MOUNTAINS O?F SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO AND WEST TEXAS.

MOVEMENT WAS NORTH AT 10 MILES AN HOUR.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL RADIO AND TELEVISION FOR
UPDATES AND POSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Jul 27, 3:44 PM MDT, 2 hours 29 minutes before
TXZ007-008-010>018-024-034-050>054-NMZ013-272245-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
443 PM CDT FRI JUL 27 1990

AT 430 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE LOCATED
15 MILES WEST OF GRANDFALLS...AND FROM NEAR SARAGOSA TO WEST OF
KERMIT...AND IN THE VICINITY OF LUBBOCK.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WERE WIDELY SCATTERED FROM
NORTH OF ALPINE TO VAN HORN TEXAS TO NEAR CARLSBAD CAVERNS IN NEW
MEXICO TO THE LUBBOCK AREA OF TEXAS.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 10 MILES AN HOUR

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HIGH WINDS...HAIL...
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS. PLEASE STAY
TUNED TO LOCAL RADIO...NOAA RADIO...OR TV FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS
OR WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Jul 27, 4:40 PM MDT, 1 hour 33 minutes before
TXZ007-008-010>018-024-034-050>054-NMZ013-272345-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
545 PM CDT FRI JUL 27 1990

AT 530 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE LOCATED
NEAR JAL NEW MEXICO...JUST NORTH OF HOBBS...AND SOUTHEAST OF SARAGOSA
TEXAS.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WERE WIDELY SCATTERED FROM
ALPINE TO VAN HORN TEXAS TO NORTHWEST OF TATUM NEW MEXICO TO WEST
OF GUTHRIE TEXAS THEN SOUTHWEST TO NEAR FORT STOCKTON.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 10 MILES AN HOUR

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HIGH WINDS...HAIL...
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS. PLEASE STAY
TUNED TO LOCAL RADIO...NOAA RADIO...OR TV FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS
OR WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Jul 27, 5:37 PM MDT, 36 minutes before
TXZ007-008-010>018-024-034-050>054-NMZ013-280045-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
640 PM CDT FRI JUL 27 1990

AT 630 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE LOCATED
SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST OF SEMINOLE TEXAS...NEAR BROWNFIELD...AND NEAR
MARATHON.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE WIDELY SCATTERED FROM
SOUTH OF MARATHON TO THE GUADALUPE PASS TO NORTH OF TATUM NEW MEXICO
...AND FROM LUBBOCK TEXAS SOUTHWEST TO SOUTH OF KERMIT.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 10 MILES AN HOUR

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HIGH WINDS...HAIL...
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS. PLEASE STAY
TUNED TO LOCAL RADIO...NOAA RADIO...OR TV FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS
OR WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 27, 6:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFChaves65 min
Jul 27, 11:37 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningMAFLea2 hr
Jul 28, 1:43 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningMAFLea2 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in New Mexico, 1990Every flash flood warning in 1990

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.