Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 17, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 2, 1996, 9:39 PM CDT for Gaines County, Texas. It was in force for 66 min. 4 reports 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
- Jun 2, 1996, 9:39 PM CDT (02:39 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 2, 1996, 10:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 66 min
- Issued by
- NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Gaines County, TX
The radar
The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:43 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2, 10:07 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Seagraves, TX | |
| Jun 2, 10:08 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Higginbotham, TX | |
| Jun 2, 10:10 PM CDT | Hail 2.75 | Seminole, TX | |
| Jun 2, 10:15 PM CDT | Hail 4 | Seminole, TX |
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
Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 290 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 839 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -8 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1968 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 54 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 24 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 215 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 5.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KMAF 030251 COR TORMAF TXC165-030345- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO THUNDERSTORM WARNING...CORRECTION II TO WORDING... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX 939 PM CDT SUN JUN 2 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND TX HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHWEST TEXAS ...NORTHERN GAINES COUNTY AT 938 PM CDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY MIDLAND DOPPLER RADAR 22 MILES NORTHWEST OF SEMINOLE OR 20 MILES NORTH OF PAYNES CORNER MOVING SOUTH AT 25 MPH. SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE... PAYNES CORNER AND SEMINOLE. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK REFUGE FROM THE WEATHER IN A STRONG BUILDING. DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN... AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED. $$ MURDOCH/TURNAGE
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 Jun 2, 8:25 PM CDT, 1 hour 14 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 2, 8:25 PM CDT, 1 hour 14 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX 823 PM CDT (723 PM MDT) SUN JUN 2 1996 SEVERE WEATHER ONGOING ATTM. SLOW MOVING CELLS OVER CRANE...REAGAN AND UPTON COUNTIES CAUSING FLASH FLOOD THREAT THIS EVENING. OUTFLOW BOUNDARY INTERACTION IN THE WEAK WIND FIELDS OVER FA KEEPING SCATTERED STRONG/SVR STORMS GOING INTO THE EVENING HOURS. ADDITIONAL STORMS MOVING S-WARD FROM NORTHERN LEA COUNTY AND YOAKUM COUNTIES EXPECTED TO IMPACT FvA NEXT 1 TO 3 HOURS. STATIONARY FRONY DRAPED ACROSS W-TX NOT EXPECTED TO MOVE MUCH NEXT 24 HRS SO REPEAT PERFORMANCE OF STORM ACTIVITY POSSIBLE FOR TOMORROW WITH MOISTURE IN PLACE AND COOL TEMPS ALOFT. PENDERGRAST
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jun 2, 6:53 PM CDT, 2 hours 46 minutes before
NMZ027>029-TXZ045>048-050>052-057>063-067>070-074-075-079>082-030025- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX 652 PM CDT (552 PM MDT) SUN JUN 2 1996 HERE IS AN UPDATE ON ALL OF THE WATCHES IN EFFECT IN WEST TEXAS : THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES ARE INCLUDED IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH #524 IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM CDT : GLASSCOCK REAGAN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES ARE INCLUDED IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH #528 IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM CDT : GAINES DAWSON BORDEN SCURRY MARTIN HOWARD MITCHELL 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2, 7:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Upton | 33 min |
| Jun 2, 7:53 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | MAF | Reagan | 3 hr |
| Jun 2, 7:53 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | MAF | Crane, Upton | 3 hr |
| Jun 2, 8:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Ward | 48 min |
| Jun 2, 8:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Crane, Pecos | 34 min |
| Jun 2, 9:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Crane, Pecos, Ward | 60 min |
| Jun 2, 9:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Gaines | 66 min |
| Jun 2, 10:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Andrews | 47 min |
| Jun 2, 10:29 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Reeves, Ward | 51 min |
| Jun 2, 10:34 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MAF | Gaines | 51 min |
| Jun 2, 10:48 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MAF | Andrews | 62 min |
| Jun 2, 11:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Winkler | 50 min |
| Jun 2, 11:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Ector | 47 min |
| Jun 2, 11:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Ector, Martin, Midland | 58 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Texas, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.