Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

August 15, 1990Eddy County, New Mexico

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at Aug 15, 1990, 5:57 PM MDT for Eddy County, New Mexico. It was in force for 48 min. 1 report 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
Aug 15, 1990, 5:57 PM MDT (23:57 UTC)
Expired
Aug 15, 1990, 6:45 PM MDT
In force
48 min
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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 15, 6:54 PM MDTTornado F0Eddy, 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

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 12.0 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 12:00Z on 1990-08-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 222 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 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 12:00Z on 1990-08-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 13 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
222 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-112 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1072 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-4 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 160001
TORROW
NMC015-160045-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROSWELL NM
ISSUED BY ALBUQUERQUE NM
557 PM MDT WED AUG 15 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO
 
   ...SOUTHWEST EDDY COUNTY
 
AT 553 PM MDT...A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY A PARK RANGER 15
MILES WEST OF THE CARLSBAD CAVERNS VISTORS CENTER. THE
TORNADO WAS MO@VING NORTH AT 20 TO 25 MPH.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 14, 10:03 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningMAFChaves, Eddy3 hr
Aug 15, 12:52 AM MDTFlash Flood WarningMAFChaves, Eddy3 hr
Aug 15, 4:09 AM MDTFlash Flood WarningMAFChaves, Eddy111 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.