Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Albuquerque, NM

August 17, 1997Chaves County, New Mexico

NWS Albuquerque, NM issued this tornado warning at Aug 17, 1997, 11:35 PM MDT for Chaves County, New Mexico. It was in force for 55 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
Aug 17, 1997, 11:35 PM MDT (05:35 UTC)
Expired
Aug 18, 1997, 12:30 AM MDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Albuquerque, NM
Area
Whole counties

County Chaves County, NM

The radar

The Holloman AFB radar (KHDX), 157 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:36 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

Santa Teresa, NM (KEPZ), launched 00:00Z, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 267 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, Santa Teresa, NM at 00:00Z on 1997-08-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 202 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, Santa Teresa, NM at 00:00Z on 1997-08-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -4 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
202 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-57 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2682 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
18 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KABQ 180527 RRA
TORABQ
NMC005-180630-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
1135 PM MDT SUN AUG 17 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBUQUERQUE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1230 AM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO
 
   ...NORTHERN CHAVES COUNTY
 
AT 1125 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LARGE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
PRODUCING A POSSIBLE TORNADO 10 MILES NORTH OF ROSWELL.
THIS DANGEROUS STORM WAS MOVING NORTH AT 15 TO 20 MPH AND WILL AFFECT
AREAS ALONG U.S. 285.
 
AT 1115 PM...A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE EAST SIDE OF ROSWELL BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER 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.
 
 
 
&

The office that day

Everything else NWS Albuquerque, NM issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 17, 10:50 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningABQChaves70 min
Aug 18, 12:00 AM MDTFlash Flood WarningABQLincoln2 hr
Aug 18, 12:23 AM MDTFlash Flood WarningABQDe Baca2 hr
Aug 18, 12:23 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQDe Baca2 hr
Aug 18, 1:38 AM MDTFlash Flood WarningABQGuadalupe, Quay2 hr
Aug 18, 2:30 AM MDTFlash Flood WarningABQDe Baca2 hr
Aug 18, 3:21 AM MDTFlash Flood WarningABQQuay3 hr
Aug 18, 4:30 AM MDTFlash Flood WarningABQDe Baca2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in New Mexico, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes in 1997

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.