Alert archive / New Mexico / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 201, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

July 31, 1996Lea County, New Mexico

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 31, 1996, 3:47 PM MDT for Lea County, New Mexico. It was in force for 63 min. 1 report 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
Jul 31, 1996, 3:47 PM MDT (21:47 UTC)
Expired
Jul 31, 1996, 4:50 PM MDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Lea County, NM

The radar

The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 149 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:47 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 31, 4:35 PM MDTHail 1Tatum, 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 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 1996-07-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 21 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 1996-07-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 28 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
21 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-315 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1995 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
78 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 312150
SVRMAF
NMC025-312250-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
447 PM CDT (347 PM MDT) WED JUL 31 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND T

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.

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 31, 1:56 PM MDT, 1 hour 51 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 1:56 PM MDT, 1 hour 51 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
254 PM CDT WED JUL 31 1996

LATEST 88D IMAGERY SHOWING TSRA MOVING WEST OFF THE DAVIS AND
GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS AT THIS TIME. IN NORTHERN FA...SURFACE BOUNDARY
MENTIONED IN PREVIOUS AFDMAF HAS BECOME DIFFICULT TO DETECT IN
SURFACE DATA. AGREE WITH LBB THAT THIS FEATURE SHOULD CONTINUE TO
WEAKEN AND MOVE NORTH AS SOUTHEAST SURFACE FLOW STRENGTHENS THIS
EVENING PER RUC DATA. THE SHORTWAVE ADVERTISED BY MODELS TO DIVE
SOUTHEAST TOWARD NORTHERN FA TONIGHT REMAINS UNSEEN ON WATER VAPOR
IMAGERY. GIVEN TROUBLES MODELS HAVE HAD HANDLING NORTHWEST FLOW
SHORTWAVES LATELY...AM TEMPTED TO DROP MENTION OF RAIN FOR NORTHERN
FA AFTER SUNSET WITH A LACK OF SURFACE AND UPPER FORCING.

FOR TEMPERATURES...A COMBINATION OF PERSISTENCE AND GUIDANCE SEEMS
LIKE THE WAY TO GO IN THIS STAGNANT WEATHER REGIME. WILL EXPECT
ATMOSPHERE TO GRADUALLY DRY OUT ALOFT AS FLOW BECOMES MORE ZONAL
OVER THE USA DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS. THANKS TO LBB FOR INPUT.

CNM  73/1
MAF  73/1
MRF  62/3
P07  76/0

TURNAGE

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 31, 10:15 AM MDT, 5 hours 32 minutes before
NMZ027>029-TXZ045>048-050>052-057>063-067>070-074-075-079>082-010500-

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
1113 AM CDT (1013 AM MDT) WED JUL 31 1996

THIS OUTLOOK PERTAINS TO THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN WEST TEXAS:

ANDREWS   CULBERSON  GLASSCOCK   MARTIN    REAGAN   UPTON
BORDEN    DAWSON     HOWARD      MIDLAND   REEVES   WARD
BREWSTER  ECTOR      JEFF DAVIS  PECOS     SCURRY   WINKLER
CRANE     GAINES     LOVING      PRESIDIO  TERRELL

AND IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO:

EDDY      LEA

SYNOPSIS:
A SURFACE BOUNDARY ORIENTED EAST-WEST ACROSS THE NORTHERN OUTLOOK
AREA WILL BE A LIKELY AREA FOR THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING. ALTHOUGH LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE...UNFAVORABLE
WINDS ALOFT SHOULD MINIMIZE THE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER. OTHER
WIDELY SCATTERED STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER THE DAVIS AND
GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...BUT THESE STORMS
SHOULD STAY WEAK AND DISSIPATE ARO.UND SUNSET.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

TURNAGE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 31, 5:30 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea65 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New Mexico, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.