Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 30, 1996Lea County, New Mexico

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 30, 1996, 12:00 AM MDT for Lea County, New Mexico. It was in force for 35 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: May 30, 1996, 12:00 AM MDT (06:00 UTC)
Expired: May 30, 1996, 12:35 AM MDT
In force: 35 min
Issued by: NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area: Whole counties

County Lea County, NM

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 30, 12:15 AM MDT	Hail 2	Tatum, 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 00:00Z, 6.0 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1926 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1987 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 68 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 258 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 12.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 300601
TORMAF
NMC025-300635-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
100 AM CDT (MIDNIGHT MDT) THU MAY 30 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND TX HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1235 AM MDT (135 AM CDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO

   ...NORTHERN LEA COUNTY
 
AT 1158 PM MDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY MIDLAND
DOPPLER RADAR IN THE VICINITY OF TATUM MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.
GOLFBALL SIZED HAIL HAS ALSO BEEN REPORTED WITH THIS STORM BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS IN THE CITY OF TATUM.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE... TATUM AND
GLADIOLA.

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 SAFETY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A
CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO
COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.

$$

TURNAGE/MEAD
 

&

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.

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at May 29, 7:58 PM MDT, 4 hours 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 29, 7:58 PM MDT, 4 hours 2 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
858 PM CDT WED MAY 29 1996

HAVING TONS OF SEVERE WEATHER AROUND THE TX PORTION OF THE CWA. WV
SATL SHOWING DIFFLUENT FLOW ALOFT HELPING OUR STORMS TO REACH SEVERE
LIMITS. THESE STORMS ARE FIRING ALONG THE DRYLINE..AND EXTD FROM
FROM S PLAINS/PERMIAN BASIN INTO MEXICO. LATEST ADAP SHOWS WEAKEST
CAP EXTDG FROM CONCHO VALLEY NW TO S/PLAINS. LOW LEVEL DEWPOINTS FOR
MAF E/WARD STILL IN THE 60S. HAVE NUMEROUS BOUNDARIES LURKING AROUND
THE RDA WITH THE PSBLTY OF MORE SVR WX FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS. SEE
NO OTHER PRESSING MATTERS FOR DRASTIC CHANGES OVERNITE PACKAGE..

BOYD

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 29, 8:56 PM MDT, 3 hours 4 minutes before

NMZ029-300400-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
956 PM CDT (856 PM MDT) WED MAY 29 1996

BECAUSE THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT HAD MOVED FARTHER EAST OUT OF
NEW MEXICO...LEA COUNNTY NEW MEXICO HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 492.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATION
FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 29, 11:07 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Eddy, Lea	48 min
May 29, 11:36 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	MAF	Lea	34 min
May 30, 3:10 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Lea	50 min
May 30, 3:58 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Lea	47 min
May 30, 5:34 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Lea	36 min

Nearby

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