Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 27, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

June 20, 1991Lea County, New Mexico

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 20, 1991, 6:30 PM MDT for Lea County, New Mexico. It was in force for 60 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
Jun 20, 1991, 6:30 PM MDT (00:30 UTC)
Expired
Jun 20, 1991, 7:30 PM MDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Lea County, NM

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 20, 6:42 PM MDTHail 1.75Lea, NM
Jun 20, 6:52 PM MDTHail 0.75Lea, 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 00:00Z, 0.5 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 1991-06-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1214 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 00:00Z on 1991-06-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 9 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
1214 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-84 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2399 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
157 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 210031
TORMAF
NMC025-210130-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
730 PM CDT (630 PM MDT) THU JUN 20 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM CDT (730 PM MDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO
 
   ...LEA COUNTY
 
AT 729 PM CDT (629 PM MDT)...A SKYWARN SPOTTER IN TATUM REPORTED A
FUNNEL CLOUD 3 MILES NORTH OF TATUM NEW MEXICO...MOVING SOUTHEAST.
 
ALSO AT 729 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN LEA
COUNTY...MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.
 
 
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.
 
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 ORH GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

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 20, 3:41 PM MDT, 2 hours 49 minutes before
TXZ007-008-010>018-024-034-050>054-NMZ013-202250-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
436 PM CDT THU JUN 20 1991

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF WEST
TEXAS AND LEA COUNTY NEW MEXICO...

AT 425 PM CDT...A THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL WAS 15
MILES NORTH OF ALPINE. THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND RAINSHOWERS WERE WIDELY SCATTERED OVER SOUTHWEST TEXAS AND THE
SOUTHEAST CORNER OF NEW MEXICO.

MOVEMENT WAS SOUTHEAST 15 MILES AN HOUR.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL RADIO OR TV FOR LATEST
INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Jun 20, 4:46 PM MDT, 1 hour 44 minutes before
TXZ007-008-010>018-024-034-050>054-NMZ013-202350-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
540 PM CDT THU JUN 20 1991

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHERN LEA COUNTY
NEW MEXICO UNTIL 512 PM CDT (412 PM MDT)...
...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF WEST
TEXAS AND LEA COUNTY NEW MEXICO...

AT 525 PM CDT...A THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL WAS 20
MILES NORTHWEST OF TATUM NEW MEXICO. THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN
WERE NEAR PECOS...FORT DAVIS AND ALPINE. THUNDERSTORMS AND RAINSHOWERS
WERE WIDELY SCATTERED OVER SOUTHWEST TEXAS AND THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF
NEW MEXICO.

MOVEMENT WAS SOUTHEAST 15} MILES AN HOUR.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL RADIO OR TV FOR LATEST
INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Jun 20, 5:48 PM MDT, 42 minutes before
TXZ007-008-010>018-024-034-050>054-NMZ013-210050-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
640 PM CDT THU JUN 20 1991

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF WEST
TEXAS AND LEA COUNTY NEW MEXICO UNTIL 11 PM CDT (10 PM MDT)...

AT 625 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...WERE NEAR FORT DAVIS
AND PECOS. IN NEW MEXICO...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE
NORTHWEST OF TATUM..SOUTHEAST OF MALJAMAR AND NORTHWEST OF JAL. THUNDER-
STORMS AND RAINSHOWERS WERE WIDELY SCATTERED OVER PARTS OF THE TEXAS SOUTH
PLAINS...THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF NEW MEXICO AND SOUTHWEST TEXAS.

MOVEMENT WAS SOUTHEAST 15 MILES AN HOUR.

STAY TUNE5D TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL RADIO OR TV FOR LATEST
INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 20, 6:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy60 min
Jun 20, 6:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea63 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.