Alert archive / New Mexico / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 138, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 28, 1997, 4:17 PM MDT for Lea County, New Mexico. It was in force for 48 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 28, 1997, 4:17 PM MDT (22:17 UTC)
- Expired
- May 28, 1997, 5:05 PM MDT
- In force
- 48 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 22:17 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 28, 5:08 PM MDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Eunice, NM | The storm that hit Hobbs continued to the southeast with other cells developing on its western flank. One of these cells had downbursting winds that knocked down 3 utility poles along State Highway 18 north of Eunice. The poles were blown from east to west. |
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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 28, 4:15 PM MDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 927 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -81 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 734 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 44 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 53 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 156 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 6.9
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 28, 1:37 PM MDT, 2 hours 40 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 28, 1:37 PM MDT, 2 hours 40 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX 236 PM CDT WED MAY 28 1997 KMAF 88D SHOWS WDLY SCT TSRA FIRING OVER DAVIS MTNS ATTM. NEARLY BKN CU FIELD OVER NRN PERMIAN BASIN INDICATES CAP LONG GONE. WITH SUCH WIDESPREAD OVERTURNING AND A LACK OF ANY CLEAR SFC BNDY...EXPECT WEAK...WDLY SCT TSRA (AT BEST) OVER PERMIAN BASIN TNGT. BETTER CHC OF ORGANIZED CONVECTION OMTNS. THIS TSRA SHOULD PROPAGATE SE WITH NW FLOW ALOFT. GOOD DIRECTIONAL SHEAR WITH E-SE SFC FLOW...AND CAPES APPROACHING 2000 J/KG ATTM SUGGEST SVR WX PSBL WITH TSRA THAT PUSH OFF MTNS INTO HIER DWPTS THIS EVE (SEE SWODY1). BIG QUESTION IS HOW FAR STORMS WILL PROPAGATE FROM MTNS. APPEARS SUSTAINED CONVECTION MORE LIKELY N OF FA AHEAD OF SPEED MAX DIVING SE OVER SRN CO/NRN NM. CLOSER TO HOME...15Z RUC INDICATES THETA-E AXIS HUGGING DAVIS/GDP MOUNTAINS THIS EVE...WHICH SUGGESTS STORMS WOULD NOT LIKELY LAST LONG AFTER PUSHING OFF MTNS THIS FAR S. WILL KEEP CHC POPS INVOF MTNS AND SLGT CHC ELSEWHERE. WENT CLOSE TO WARMER FWC LOWS AS MOIST UPSLOPE FLOW WILL KEEP DWPTS UP OVERNIGHT. COULD SEE SOME PATCHY MRNG LOW CLDS ERN ZONES. COORDINATED WITH LBB. MAF 62/88 2/1 CNM 62/91 3/1 MRF 57/85 3/1 P07 064/92 -/1 TJT
The office that day
Everything else NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 28, 3:37 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Lea | 43 min |
| May 28, 3:54 PM MDT | Flash Flood Warning | MAF | Lea | 61 min |
| May 28, 5:03 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Lea | 47 min |
| May 28, 5:50 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Lea | 45 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New Mexico, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.