Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 24, 1996Lea County, New Mexico

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 24, 1996, 8:50 PM 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 24, 1996, 8:50 PM MDT (02:50 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 1996, 9:25 PM MDT
In force
35 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 02:50 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
May 24, 9:07 PM MDTHail 1.75Tatum, 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, 2.8 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 00:00Z on 1996-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2454 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Midland Regional, TX at 00:00Z on 1996-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 6 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
2454 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-86 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2042 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
32 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 250250
TORMAF
NMC025-250325-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
950 PM CDT (850 PM MDT) FRI MAY 24 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND TX HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 925 PM MDT (1025 PM CDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO

   ...NORTHERN LEA COUNTY
 
AT 848 PM MDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY MIDLAND
DOPPLER RADAR AND SPOTTER REPORTS 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF TATUM
MOVING NORTH AT 40 MPH.

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

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.

$$

HUBER/TURNAGE
 

&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 6:08 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea67 min
May 24, 7:22 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy, Lea48 min
May 24, 8:24 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea46 min
May 25, 1:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy50 min
May 25, 1:15 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea50 min
May 25, 1:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea62 min
May 25, 3:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea50 min
May 25, 3:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea65 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.