Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

April 21, 1990Chaves County, New Mexico

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at Apr 21, 1990, 9:26 PM MDT for Chaves County, New Mexico. It was in force for 64 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Apr 21, 1990, 9:26 PM MDT (03:26 UTC)
Expired
Apr 21, 1990, 10:30 PM MDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Chaves County, NM

The radar

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

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 21, 10:00 PM MDTHail 1.75Chaves, NM
Apr 21, 10:20 PM MDTTornado F0Chaves, NM

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

El Paso Intl Airport, TX (KELP), launched 00:00Z, 3.4 hours before the alert went out and 251 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, El Paso Intl Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 1990-04-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 385 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, El Paso Intl Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 1990-04-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 260 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
385 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-181 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2307 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
260 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
465 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KABQ 220330
TORROW
NMC005-220430-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROSWELL NM
ISSUED BY ALBUQUERQUE NM
926 PM MDT SAT APR 21 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO
 
   ...CENTRAL AND SOUTCENTRAL CHAVES COUNTY
 
AT 920 PM MDT...A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC JUST SOUTH-
WEST OF ROSWELL NEW MEXICO. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT
20 MPH.
 
IN ADDITION...VERY HEAVY RAINS WERE OCCURRING IN AND JUST NORTH
OF THE CITY OF ROSWELL AS OF 920 PM MDT.
 
THIS REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING ISSUED AT 845 PM
MDT FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHCENTRAL CHAVES COUNTY.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID ?WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 21, 8:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFChaves45 min
Apr 21, 8:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFChaves60 min
Apr 21, 9:26 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningMAFChaves64 min
Apr 22, 4:40 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFChaves65 min
Apr 22, 5:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFChaves60 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in New Mexico, 1990Every tornado warning in 1990Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.