Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

June 5, 1991Lea County, New Mexico

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 5, 1991, 4:04 PM MDT for Lea County, New Mexico. It was in force for 56 min. 6 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
Jun 5, 1991, 4:04 PM MDT (22:04 UTC)
Expired
Jun 5, 1991, 5:00 PM MDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Lea County, NM

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 5, 4:50 PM MDTHail 1Lea, NM
Jun 5, 4:58 PM MDTTornado F0Lea, NM
Jun 5, 5:00 PM MDTTornado F0Lea, NM
Jun 5, 5:07 PM MDTTornado F0Lea, NM
Jun 5, 5:09 PM MDTTornado F0Lea, NM
Jun 5, 5:10 PM MDTTornado F0Lea, 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, 10.1 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 12:00Z on 1991-06-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2826 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 1991-06-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 85 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
2826 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-111 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1186 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
85 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
136 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 052204
TORMAF
NMC025-052300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
504 PM CDT (404 PM MDT) WED JUN 5 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM CDT (500 PM MDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO
 
   ...LEA COUNTY
 
AT 500 PM CDT...400 PM MDT...THE PUBLIC WAS REPORTING A TORNADO
BETWEEN MALJAMAR AND HOBBS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 10 MILES AN HOUR.
 
THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING OTHER TORNADOS STRETCH FROM THE
SOUTHWEST CORNER OF LEA COUNTY TO THE NORTHEAST PORTION OF LEA COUNTY
AND PERSONS IN LEA COUNTY SHOULD TAKE PRECAUTIONS IMMEDIATELY.
 
 
 
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 CUSHqIONS 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, Jun 5, 1:36 PM MDT, 2 hours 28 minutes before
TXZ007-008-010>018-024-034-050>054-NMZ013-052045-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
230 PM CDT WED JUN 5 1991

...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN WEST TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO...

AT 230 PM CDT...A THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE HAIL
WAS WEST OF BALMORHEA AND SARAGOSA. ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY
HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE HAIL WAS WEST OF CARLSBAD NEW MEXICO.

OTHER WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE BUILDING RAPIDLY ACROSS MUCH
OF WEST TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO WITH THE STRONGEST BEING OBSERVED WEST OF
FORT STOCKTON AND SOUTHWEST OF MARFA.

VERY LITTLE MOVEMENT IS BEING OBSERVED WITH MOST OF THE THUNDERSTORMS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHwER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 5, 1:30 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy60 min
Jun 5, 2:20 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFChaves, Eddy55 min
Jun 5, 2:40 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFChaves50 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in New Mexico, 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.