Alert archive / New Mexico / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1994

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Albuquerque, NM

May 9, 1994Colfax County, New Mexico

NWS Albuquerque, NM issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 9, 1994, 1:03 PM MDT for Colfax County, New Mexico. It was in force for 57 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 9, 1994, 1:03 PM MDT (19:03 UTC)
Expired
May 9, 1994, 2:00 PM MDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Albuquerque, NM
Area
Whole counties

County Colfax County, NM

The nearest sounding before it

Albuquerq/Krtlnd, NM (KABQ), launched 12:00Z, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 247 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, Albuquerq/Krtlnd, NM at 12:00Z on 1994-05-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Albuquerq/Krtlnd, NM at 12:00Z on 1994-05-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 15 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1958 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
15 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
53 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 
WUUS1 KABQ 091904 RRA
SVRABQ
NMC007-092000-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
103 PM MDT MON MAY 9 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBUQUERQUE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  200 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE......
 
IN NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO
 
   ...WESTERN COLFAX COUNTY
 
AT 100 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVING INTO THE SOUTHWESTERN PORTION OF
COLFAX COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHWARD AT AROUND 20 MILES AN
HOUR.
 
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 9, 11:20 AM MDT, 1 hour 43 minutes before
NMZALL-092345-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  ALBUQUERQUE NM
1120 AM MDT MON MAY 9 1994

...ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE OVER EASTERN NEW MEXICO THIS
   AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

MOISTURE FROM THE EAST WAS WORKING ITS WAY INTO EASTERN NEW MEXICO
LATE THIS MORNING WITH MOISTURE VALUES ALSO INCREASING SOMEWHAT IN
THE CENTRAL PORTION OF THE STATE. IN ADDITION...AN UNSEASONABLY COLD
UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE AREA WAS NEARLY STATIONARY OVER ARIZONA WITH
DISTURBANCES ROTATING AROUND THE LOW BRUSHING ACROSS NEW MEXICO. THE
COMBINATION OF INCREASING MOISTURE AND THE UPPER DISTURBANCES MAKING
THE AIR MORE UNSTABLE IS EXPECTED TO RESULT IN SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
ACROSS MUCH OF THE STATE THIS AFTERNOON WITH THE BEST CHANCE OVER THE
NORTH AND EAST AND THE LEAST CHANCE IN THE SOUTHWEST CORNER WHERE
MOISTURE LEVELS ARE THE LOWEST. OVER THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND NORTH
SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS OVER 40 MILES AN HOUR ARE POSSIBLE WITH THE
STORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

ON THE EASTERN PLAINS...WHERE MOISTURE LEVELS ARE THE HIGHEST...SOME
OF THE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING
...PRODUCING LARGE HAIL...STRONG WINDS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL.

RESIDENTS OR TRAVELERS ACROSS EASTERN NEW MEXICO THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING SHOULD KEEP AN EYE ON THE WEATHER AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO
A PLACE OF SAFETY SHOULD A WARNING BE ISSUED OR THREATENING WEATHER
APPROACH.

MJF
Special weather statement, May 9, 11:21 AM MDT, 1 hour 42 minutes before
NMZALL-092345-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  ALBUQUERQUE NM
1120 AM MDT MON MAY 9 1994

...ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE OVER EASTERN NEW MEXICO THIS
   AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

MOISTURE FROM THE EAST WAS WORKING ITS WAY INTO EASTERN NEW MEXICO
LATE THIS MORNING WITH MOISTURE VALUES ALSO INCREASING SOMEWHAT IN
THE CENTRAL PORTION OF THE STATE. IN ADDITION...AN UNSEASONABLY COLD
UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE AREA WAS NEARLY STATIONARY OVER ARIZONA WITH
DISTURBANCES ROTATING AROUND THE LOW BRUSHING ACROSS NEW MEXICO. THE
COMBINATION OF INCREASING MOISTURE AND THE UPPER DISTURBANCES MAKING
THE AIR MORE UNSTABLE IS EXPECTED TO RESULT IN SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
ACROSS MUCH OF THE STATE THIS AFTERNOON WITH THE BEST CHANCE OVER THE
NORTH AND EAST AND THE LEAST CHANCE IN THE SOUTHWEST CORNER WHERE
MOISTURE LEVELS ARE THE LOWEST. OVER THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND NORTH
SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS OVER 40 MILES AN HOUR ARE POSSIBLE WITH THE
STORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

ON THE EASTERN PLAINS...WHERE MOISTURE LEVELS ARE THE HIGHEST...SOME
OF THE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING
...PRODUCING LARGE HAIL...STRONG WINDS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL.

RESIDENTS OR TRAVELERS ACROSS EASTERN NEW MEXICO THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING SHOULD KEEP AN EYE ON THE WEATHER AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO
A PLACE OF SAFETY SHOULD A WARNING BE ISSUED OR THREATENING WEATHER
APPROACH.

MJF

The office that day

Everything else NWS Albuquerque, NM issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 9, 12:13 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQMora47 min
May 9, 2:09 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQColfax66 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New Mexico, 1994Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1994

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.