Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Albuquerque, NM

October 11, 1997Colfax County, New Mexico

NWS Albuquerque, NM issued this tornado warning at Oct 11, 1997, 4:49 PM MDT for Colfax County, New Mexico. It was in force for 31 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
Oct 11, 1997, 4:49 PM MDT (22:49 UTC)
Expired
Oct 11, 1997, 5:20 PM MDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Albuquerque, NM
Area
Whole counties

County Colfax County, NM

The radar

The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 210 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:51 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Oct 11, 4:30 PM MDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Albuquerq/Krtlnd, NM (KABQ), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 247 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, Albuquerq/Krtlnd, NM at 12:00Z on 1997-10-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 643 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Albuquerq/Krtlnd, NM at 12:00Z on 1997-10-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 268 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
643 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-84 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1080 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
268 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
310 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
2.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KABQ 112251 RRA
TORABQ
NMC007-112320-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
449 PM MDT SAT OCT 11 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBUQUERQUE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 520 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO

   ...NORTHERN COLFAX COUNTY
 
AT 450 PM MDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY DOPPLER RADAR
AND SPOTTER REPORTS 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF THE INTERSECTION OF U.S. 64
AND INTERSTATE 25...OR 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF RATON.  THIS STORM WAS
MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.  SEVERAL FUNNEL CLOUDS HAVE
BEEN OBSERVED WITH THIS STORM AND COULD PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY
TIME.

DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A
TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO STURDY
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SAFETY IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 11, 4:11 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQColfax44 min
Oct 11, 5:48 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQChaves37 min

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.