Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 22, 1991Ward County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 22, 1991, 6:17 PM CDT for Ward County, Texas. It was in force for 58 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
May 22, 1991, 6:17 PM CDT (23:17 UTC)
Expired
May 22, 1991, 7:15 PM CDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Ward County, TX

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 22, 6:42 PM CDTHail 2.5Ward, TX

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, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 98 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 1991-05-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 277 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 12:00Z on 1991-05-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 54 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
277 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-165 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
970 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
83 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 222321
TORMAF
TXC475-230015-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
617 PM CDT WED MAY 22 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS
 
   ...WARD COUNTY
 
AT 617 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 10 MILES SOUTHEAST
OF PECOS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.
 
DPS REPORTING A FUNNEL CLOUD 5 TO 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF PECOS. MOVING
TOWARD PEYOTE AND MONAHANS.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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, 5:37 PM CDT, 40 minutes before
TXZ007-008-010>018-024-034-050>054-NMZ013-222340-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
537 PM CST WED MAY 22 1991

...VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS IN PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST TEXAS...

AT 525 PM CDT...A THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS 20 MILES
SOUTH OF FORT STOCKTON. MOVEMENT WAS EAST 10 MILES AN HOUR.
A THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY RAIN WAS 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SARAGOSA.
MOVEMENT HAD NOT BEEN DETERMINED. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE
OF PRODUCING BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...AND SMALL HAIL.

ALSO...WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE FROM WEST OF LUBBOCK TO
EAST OF BIG LAKE. A VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORM WAS WEST OF COLORADO CITY.
MOVEMENT WASi NORTH 15 MILES AN HOUR.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION
FOR ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 22, 5:42 PM CDT, 35 minutes before
TXZ007-008-010>018-024-034-050>054-NMZ013-222340-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
542 PM CST WED MAY 22 1991

...VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS IN PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST TEXAS...

AT 525 PM CDT...A THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS 20 MILES
SOUTH OF FORT STOCKTON. MOVEMENT WAS EAST 10 MILES AN HOUR.
A THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SARAGOSA.
MOVEMENT HAD NOT BEEN DETERMINED. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE
OF PRODUCING BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...AND SMALL HAIL.

ALSO...WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE FROM WEST OF LUBBOCK TO
EAST OF BIG LAKE. A VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORM WAS WEST OF COLORADO CITY.
MOVEMENT WAS NORTH 15 MILES AN HOUR.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION
FOR ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 21, 8:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFReeves55 min
May 21, 9:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFReeves68 min
May 21, 11:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLoving, Ward59 min
May 22, 5:46 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFReeves59 min
May 22, 6:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFPecos63 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1991Every tornado warning in 1991Tornadoes in 1991

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.