Alert archive / New Mexico / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 159, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 29, 1997, 6:51 PM MDT for Lea County, New Mexico. It was in force for 64 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 29, 1997, 6:51 PM MDT (00:51 UTC)
- Expired
- May 29, 1997, 7:55 PM MDT
- In force
- 64 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 00:51 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 29, 7:42 PM MDT | Hail 0.75 | Jal, NM | The southern end of the large complex headed toward the southeast toward Jal. The cell that passed over Jal weakened as it came into town. |
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 29, 5:00 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 00:00Z, 0.9 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
- 1725 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -70 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2054 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 48 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 17 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 192 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 2.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
975 WUUS1 KMAF 300051 RRA SVRMAF NMC025-300155- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX 751 PM CDT (651 PM MDT) THU MAY 29 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND TX HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 755 PM MDT (855 PM CDT) FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO ...SOUTHERN LEA COUNTY AT 649 PM MDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY MIDLAND DOPPLER RADAR 11 MILES NORTHWEST OF JAL MOVING SOUTH AT 15 MPH. THIS STORM IS EXPECTED TO MOVE CLOSE TO EUNICE AND REMAIN IN RURAL AREAS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH... DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. FOR YOUR PROTECTION...MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO DO NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD. MURDOCH/HUBER
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 29, 2:15 PM MDT, 4 hours 36 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 29, 2:15 PM MDT, 4 hours 36 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED POPS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX 315 PM CDT (215 PM MDT) THU MAY 29 1997 SEE SWODY1 FOR GOOD SYNOPSIS OF SVR WX THREAT OVR FA. SVR TSRA ALREADY DVLPD IN DAVIS MTNS ATTM. EXPECT SVR TSRA TO DVLP INVOF INSTABILITY AXIS OVER SE NM IN THE NEXT COUPLE HRS. THIS SHOULD PROPAGATE SE INTO REST OF NRN FA (SEE SPSMAF). AGREE WITH LBB THAT LCL HVY RAIN PSBL GIVEN GOOD LOLVL MSTR. FRONT OVER KS TO PUSH S THROUGH FA FRI AS WRN USA RDG AMPLIFIES...BRINGING NLY FLOW ALOFT OVER FA. WILL KEEP POPS GOING INTO 2ND PERIOD AS FRONT SHOULD HAVE PLENTY OF MSTR AHEAD OF IT TO WORK WITH. MAF 63/91 4/3 CNM 61/92 4/3 MRF 55/85 2/1 P07 66/90 2/3 TJT
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.