Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Albuquerque, NM

October 11, 1997Chaves County, New Mexico

NWS Albuquerque, NM issued this tornado warning at Oct 11, 1997, 6:26 PM MDT for Chaves County, New Mexico. It was in force for 24 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, 6:26 PM MDT (00:26 UTC)
Expired
Oct 11, 1997, 6:50 PM MDT
In force
24 min
Issued by
NWS Albuquerque, NM
Area
Whole counties

County Chaves County, NM

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

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 00:00Z, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 264 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 1997-10-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 184 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, Midland Regional, TX at 00:00Z on 1997-10-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 77 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
184 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-154 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1048 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
77 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
102 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

562 
WFUS1 KABQ 120027 RRA
TORABQ
NMC005-120050-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBUQUERQUE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 650 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO

   ...EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN CHAVES COUNTY
 
AT 625 PM MDT...A LARGE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING A POSSIBLE
TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY DOPPLER RADAR AND SPOTTER REPORTS 25 MILES
EAST OF LAKE ARTHUR MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.  THIS STORM
WILL AFFECT THE EXTREME SOUTHEAST CORNER OF CHAVES COUNTY WITH LARGE
HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SAFETY IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK REFUGE IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 11, 6:59 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQColfax46 min
Oct 11, 7:10 PM MDTTornado WarningABQColfax30 min
Oct 11, 7:48 PM MDTTornado WarningABQColfax32 min
Oct 11, 8:59 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQMora31 min
Oct 11, 9:05 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQColfax40 min
Oct 11, 10:04 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQColfax, Union31 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.