Alert archive / New Mexico / Flash Flood Warnings in 1994

Flash Flood Warning 12, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 12, 1994Lea County, New Mexico

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this flash flood warning at May 12, 1994, 8:45 AM MDT for Lea County, New Mexico. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 12, 1994, 8:45 AM MDT (14:45 UTC)
Expired
May 12, 1994, 1:45 PM MDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Lea County, NM

The nearest sounding before it

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 2.8 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 1994-05-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 612 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 1994-05-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 178 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
612 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-154 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
770 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
178 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
162 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 121445
FFWMAF
NMC025-121945-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
945 AM CDT (845 AM MDT) THU MAY 12 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  245 PM CDT (145 PM MDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO
 
   ...LEA COUNTY
 
AT 940 AM CDT...THE HOBBS POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORTED SOME MINOR STREET
FLOODING IN THE CITY OF HOBBS. THEY ALSO ESTIMATED ABOUT 11/2 INCHES OF
RAIN IN THE LAST HOUR. WITH STORMS CONTINUING TO DEVELOP TO THE
SOUTHWEST...MORE RAIN IS EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. AS A
RESULT...CONTINUED STREED FLOODING CAN BE EXPECTED SINCE THE GROUND IS
ALREADY SATURATED FROM PREVIOUS RAINFALLS.
 
STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND MOVE OVER THE SAME AREAS
FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS.  INDIVIDUAL STORMS ARE MOVING NORTHEAST AT
BETWEEN 20 AND 25 MILES AN HOUR.  HOWEVER...THERE IS VERY LITTLE
MOVEMENT IN THIS AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROAVDWAY.  NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT.  TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 12, 4:31 AM MDT, 4 hours 14 minutes before
TXZ045>047-050>052-058>063-067>069-075-082-NMZ029-121145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
531 AM CDT THU MAY 12 1994

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR HOWARD AND GLASSCOCK
COUNTIES THROUGH TODAY...

AT 525 AM CDT...AN AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN
...WAS LOCATED FROM EAST OF SAN ANGELO TO WEST OF THE GUADALUPE
MOUNTAINS. THE HEAVIEST STORM WAS NORTHEAST OF SEMINOLE. MOVEMENT
WAS NORTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, May 12, 4:36 AM MDT, 4 hours 9 minutes before
TXZ045>047-050>052-058>063-067>069-075-082-NMZ029-121145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
531 AM CDT THU MAY 12 1994

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR HOWARD AND GLASSCOCK
COUNTIES THROUGH TODAY...

AT 525 AM CDT...AN AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN
...WAS LOCATED FROM EAST OF SAN ANGELO TO WEST OF THE GUADALUPE
MOUNTAINS. THE HEAVIEST STORM WAS NORTHEAST OF SEMINOLE. MOVEMENT
WAS NORTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 11, 6:49 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea56 min
May 11, 7:50 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea55 min
May 12, 11:30 AM MDTTornado WarningMAFEddy45 min
May 12, 1:25 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningMAFLea5 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in New Mexico, 1994Every flash flood 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.