Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 22, 1997Eddy County, New Mexico

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 22, 1997, 4:06 PM MDT for Eddy County, New Mexico. It was in force for 49 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 22, 1997, 4:06 PM MDT (22:06 UTC)
Expired
May 22, 1997, 4:55 PM MDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Eddy County, NM

The radar

The Holloman AFB radar (KHDX), 183 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:07 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 22, 4:46 PM MDTTornado F0Carlsbad, NMA non-supercell storm produced a small tornado in open country northwest of Carlsbad. The storm appeared relatively weak on radar.

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 nearest sounding before it

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 206 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 12:00Z on 1997-05-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 97 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 12:00Z on 1997-05-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 47 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
97 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-151 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1297 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
58 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 KMAF 222207
TORMAF
NMC015-222255-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
506 PM CDT (406 PM MDT) THU MAY 22 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND TX HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 455 PM MDT (555 PM CDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO

   ...WESTERN EDDY COUNTY
 
AT 404 PM MDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY MIDLAND DOPPLER
RADAR AND SPOTTER REPORTS 28 MILES NORTHWEST OF CARLSBAD OR 14
MILES WEST OF SEVEN RIVERS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH.  NUMEROUS
REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED WITH THIS STORM.

THE TORNADO IS CURRENTLY EXPECTED TO REMAIN OVER RURAL AREAS.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO
BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SAFETY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A
CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO
COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.



TWE/MDW

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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.