Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 47, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at Jul 5, 1997, 8:15 PM MDT for Lea County, New Mexico. It was in force for 50 min. 3 reports 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
- Jul 5, 1997, 8:15 PM MDT (02:15 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 5, 1997, 9:05 PM MDT
- In force
- 50 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 02:18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 5, 8:20 PM MDT | Hail 1 | Tatum, NM | |
| Jul 5, 8:25 PM MDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Tatum, NM | Outflow winds from the forward flank of an HP supercell uprooted trees, blew over or removed roofs from sheds, and downed power poles. |
| Jul 5, 8:50 PM MDT | Hail 1.75 | Mc Donald, NM | Golfball hail destroyed corn on a dairy farm. |
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 00:00Z, 2.3 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
- 777 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -28 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2110 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 48 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 28 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 235 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 3.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KMAF 060218 RRA TORMAF NMC025-060305- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX 915 PM CDT (815 PM MDT) SAT JUL 5 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND TX HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 905 PM MDT (1005 PM CDT) FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO ...NORTHERN LEA COUNTY AT 814 PM MDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY MIDLAND DOPPLER RADAR 30 MILES NORTH OF LOVINGTON OR 12 MILES EAST OF CAPROCK MOVING SOUTH AT 25 MPH. THE TORNADO IS CURRENTLY EXPECTED TO MOVE NEAR AND TO THE WEST OF TATUM BY 835 PM MDT. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT. EARLE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 5, 8:02 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Lea | 48 min |
| Jul 5, 9:04 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | MAF | Lea | 31 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.