Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 24, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 28, 1997Lea County, New Mexico

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 28, 1997, 6:28 PM MDT for Lea County, New Mexico. It was in force for 47 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
May 28, 1997, 6:28 PM MDT (00:28 UTC)
Expired
May 28, 1997, 7:15 PM MDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Lea County, NM

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 28, 4:15 PM MDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 00:00Z, 0.5 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Midland Regional, TX at 00:00Z on 1997-05-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 884 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 1997-05-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 10 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
884 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1726 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
319 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
4.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 290029 RRA
TORMAF
NMC025-290115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
728 PM CDT (628 PM MDT) WED MAY 28 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND TX HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 715 PM MDT (815 PM CDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO

   ...EAST CENTRAL LEA COUNTY
 
AT 627 PM MDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY MIDLAND
DOPPLER RADAR AND SPOTTER REPORTS 16 MILES NORTH OF HOBBS OR 8
MILES NORTHWEST OF KNOWLES MOVING SOUTH AT 20 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE... KNOWLES... HUMBLE
CITY AND HOBBS.  WEATHER SPOTTERS HAVE REPORTED A ROTATING WALL
CLOUD.  THIS STORM SHOULD REACH HUMBLE BY 7 PM MDT.

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.

TAH/RRF

The office that day

Everything else NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 28, 6:37 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea18 min
May 29, 5:44 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea66 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.