Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

June 2, 1996Gaines County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 2, 1996, 10:34 PM CDT for Gaines County, Texas. It was in force for 51 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
Jun 2, 1996, 10:34 PM CDT (03:34 UTC)
Expired
Jun 2, 1996, 11:25 PM CDT
In force
51 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 03:37 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 3.6 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 1996-06-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 839 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 00:00Z on 1996-06-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 24 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 030337 COR
TORMAF
TXC165-030425-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED...CORRECTION TO BODY 1ST LINE..
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
1034 PM CDT SUN JUN 2 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND TX HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1125 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHWEST TEXAS

   ...GAINES COUNTY

AT 1031 PM CDT...A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY MIDLAND
DOPPLER RADAR AND SPOTTER REPORTS 15 MILES WEST OF SEMINOLE OR 8
MILES SOUTHWEST OF PAYNES CORNER MOVING SOUTH AT 25 MPH. THIS STORM
IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN RURAL AREAS.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD PREPARE
FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND DEADLY
LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE TORNADOES. PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO
SAFETY...PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM
WINDOWS.

THIS REPLACES THE TORNADO WARNING THAT WAS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHERN
GAINES COUNTY.l

$$

MURDOCH/PENDERGRAST

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, 2 hours 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 2, 8:25 PM CDT, 2 hours 9 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, 3 hours 41 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.
Special weather statement, Jun 2, 10:04 PM CDT, 30 minutes before
NMZ027>029-TXZ045>048-050>052-057>063-067>070-074-075-079>082-030335-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
1002 PM CDT (902 PM MDT) SUN JUN 2 1996

HERE IS AN UPDATE ON ALL OF THE WATCHES IN EFFECT IN WEST TEXAS
AND SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO :

THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES ARE INCLUDED IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
#530 IN EFFECT UNTIL 100 AM CDT (MIDNIGHT MDT) :

IN WEST TEXAS :

GAINES        DAWSON          BORDEN        ANDREWS
MARTIN        HOWARD          CULBERSON     MIDLAND
ECTOR         REEVES          GLASSCOCK     WINKLER
LOVING

IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO :

LEA           EDDY

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR SEdVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 2, 7:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFUpton33 min
Jun 2, 7:53 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMAFReagan3 hr
Jun 2, 7:53 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMAFCrane, Upton3 hr
Jun 2, 8:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFWard48 min
Jun 2, 8:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFCrane, Pecos34 min
Jun 2, 9:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFCrane, Pecos, Ward60 min
Jun 2, 9:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFGaines66 min
Jun 2, 9:39 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFGaines66 min
Jun 2, 10:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFAndrews47 min
Jun 2, 10:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFReeves, Ward51 min
Jun 2, 10:48 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFAndrews62 min
Jun 2, 11:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFWinkler50 min
Jun 2, 11:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEctor47 min
Jun 2, 11:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEctor, Martin, Midland58 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.