Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 29, 1996Lea County, New Mexico

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 29, 1996, 11:36 PM MDT for Lea County, New Mexico. It was in force for 34 min. 2 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
May 29, 1996, 11:36 PM MDT (05:36 UTC)
Expired
May 30, 1996, 12:10 AM MDT
In force
34 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 05:20 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 29, 11:59 PM MDTHail 1.75Tatum, NM
May 30, 12:15 AM MDTHail 2Tatum, 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, 5.6 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 1996-05-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1926 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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 1996-05-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 58 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
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 300536
TORMAF
NMC025-300610-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
1236 AM CDT (1136 PM MDT) THU MAY 30 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND TX HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1210 AM MDT (110 AM CDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO

   ...CENTRAL LEA COUNTY
 
AT 1135 PM MDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY MIDLAND
DOPPLER RADAR 15 MILES WEST OF LOVINGTON MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

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

THIS STORM SHOULD PASS WEST OF LOVINGTON.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A
REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

$$

TURNAGE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 29, 11:07 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy, Lea48 min
May 30, 12:00 AM MDTTornado WarningMAFLea35 min
May 30, 3:10 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea50 min
May 30, 3:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea47 min
May 30, 5:34 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea36 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.