Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Albuquerque, NM

September 2, 1996Union County, New Mexico

NWS Albuquerque, NM issued this tornado warning at Sep 2, 1996, 3:20 PM MDT for Union County, New Mexico. It was in force for 40 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 2, 1996, 3:20 PM MDT (21:20 UTC)
Expired
Sep 2, 1996, 4:00 PM MDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Albuquerque, NM
Area
Whole counties

County Union County, NM

The nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 212 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 1996-09-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2108 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 1996-09-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 239 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2108 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-147 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
946 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
239 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
327 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
6.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KABQ 022120
TORABQ
NMC059-022200-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
320 PM MDT MON SEP 2 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBUQUERQUE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO
 
   ...UNION COUNTY
 
AT 310 PM THE PUBLIC REPORT A TORNADO 10 MILES NORTH OF GRENVILLE.
THE STORM PRODUCING THIS TORNADO WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 5-10 MPH.
 
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, Sep 2, 12:04 PM MDT, 3 hours 16 minutes before
KSZ073-097-101-MOZ055>058-066>071-077>083-088>098-101>106-031800-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
100 PM CDT MON SEP 02 1996

THE FOLLOWING OUTLOOK CONTAINS INFORMATION FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES

IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS   BOURBON     CHEROKEE   CRAWFORD

IN SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL MISSOURI

BARRY           DALLAS        LACLEDE        OREGON         STONE
BARTON          DENT          LAWRENCE       OZARK          TANEY
BENTON          DOUGLAS       MARIES         PHELPS         TEXAS
CAMDEN          GREENE        MCDONALD       POLK           VERNON
CEDAR           HICKORY       MILLER         PULASKI        WEBSTER
CHRISTIAN       HOWELL        MORGAN         SHANNON        WRIGHT
DADE            JASPER        NEWTON         ST CLAIR
.
...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...

A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS...WILL BE THE CULPRIT TO
TRIGGER SCATTERED SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY OVER THE NEXT 12 TO
24 HOURS.  THE LOW...WHICH HAS MOVED ABOUT 150 MILES NORTHEAST SINCE
YESTERDAY...WILL FOCUS MOST OF THE PRECIPITATION OVER THE EASTERN AND
CENTRAL SECTIONS OF THE AREA THRU MIDNIGHT.  HOWEVER...WIDELY SCATTERED
SHOWERS CAN BE EXPECTED OVER SOUTHEASTERN AREAS OVERNIGHT.

THE LOW HAS PUMPED A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF MOISTURE AND TOGETHER WITH
AFTERNOON HEATING AND COLD AIR ALOFT...WILL BRING THE ISOLATED THREAT
OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.  LARGE HAIL AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE
THE MAIN THREAT.  HAIL UP TO 1 INCH CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE STRONGEST OF
STORMS.

HOWEVER...MOST SEVERE PARAMETERS ARE NOT IN PLACE...SO ONLY A VERY SMALL
NUMBER OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL BECOME SEVERE.

MOST AREAS THAT RECEIVE RAINFALL...WILL GET LESS THAN 1/2 OF AN INCH.
HOWEVER...A FEW STORMS COULD PRODUCE UP TO 1 AND 1/2 INCHES.

IN ADDITION...THESE STORMS WILL BE SHORT LIVED.  THEY WILL POP
UP...DISSIPATE AND REFORM AGAIN.  WHEN INDIVIDUAL STORMS...DISSIPATE OR
COLLAPSE...A FvEW AREAS MAY EXPERIENCE SOME BRIEF STRONG AND GUSTY
WINDS.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED FOR INDIVIDUAL STORM REPORTS.

GORDON
Special weather statement, Sep 2, 3:02 PM MDT, 18 minutes before
NMZ007-022200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
303 PM MDT MON SEP 2 1996

AT 250 PM THE CLAYTON PD RECEIVED SEVERAL REPORTS OF A FUNNEL CLOUD
10 MILES NORTH OF GRENVILLE. RADAR SHOWS THAT THE THUNDERSTORMS IN
THE GRENVILLE AREA ARE BEGINNING TO DIMINISH.  THUNDERSTORM WILL
CONTINUE OVER UNION COUNTY THROUGH LATE THIS AFTERNOON...WITH BRIEF
HEAVY RAINS...GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND SOME SMALL HAIL.

&z

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 2, 5:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQGuadalupe62 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in New Mexico, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes in 1996

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.