Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 747

October 11, 199715 counties in New Mexico

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 11, 1997, 4:30 PM MDT for 15 counties in New Mexico. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Oct 11, 1997, 4:30 PM MDT (22:30 UTC)
Expired: Oct 11, 1997, 11:00 PM MDT
In force: 7 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Chaves County, NM, Colfax County, NM, Curry County, NM, De Baca County, NM, Eddy County, NM, Guadalupe County, NM, Harding County, NM, Lea County, NM, Lincoln County, NM, Mora County, NM, Quay County, NM, Roosevelt County, NM, San Miguel County, NM, Taos County, NM, Union County, NM

The radar

The Cannon AFB radar (KFDX), 119 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:30 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.

Warnings issued inside it

13 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 11, 4:49 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	ABQ	Colfax	31 min
Oct 11, 5:16 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Eddy	39 min
Oct 11, 5:24 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	MAF	Eddy	46 min
Oct 11, 5:48 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ABQ	Chaves	37 min
Oct 11, 6:09 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	MAF	Eddy	31 min
Oct 11, 6:26 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	ABQ	Chaves	24 min
Oct 11, 6:42 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	MAF	Lea	63 min
Oct 11, 6:59 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ABQ	Colfax	46 min
Oct 11, 7:10 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	ABQ	Colfax	30 min
Oct 11, 7:48 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	ABQ	Colfax	32 min
Oct 11, 8:59 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ABQ	Mora	31 min
Oct 11, 9:05 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ABQ	Colfax	40 min
Oct 11, 10:04 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ABQ	Colfax, Union	31 min

The nearest sounding before it

Albuquerq/Krtlnd, NM (KABQ), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 212 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 643 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -84 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1080 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 268 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 310 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.6
Supercell composite: 2.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

804 
WWUS9 KMKC 112204
SEL7  
MKC WW 112204
NMZ000-120500-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 747
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
404 PM MDT SAT OCT 11 1997

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   EASTERN NEW MEXICO                         

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 430 PM UNTIL
1100 PM MDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 95 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF CARLSBAD NEW MEXICO TO
20 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF RATON NEW MEXICO.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 746...

DISCUSSION...SUPERCELLS POSSIBLE THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT ACROSS
EASTERN NEW MEXICO AS EXIT REGION OF 80+KT MID LEVEL SPEED MAX
APPROACHES FROM THE WEST.  SEASONABLY HIGH LEVELS OF BOUNDARY LAYER
MOISTURE...ALONG WITH EASTERLY COMPONENTS ASSOCIATED WITH SURFACE
PRESSURE FALLS OVER REGION...SHOULD ENHANCE POTENTIAL FOR
SUSATAINED UPDRAFTS IN FACE OF VERY STRONG SHEAR.     

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 80 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 21040.


...CORFIDI

315,1054 365,1054 365,1025 315,1030

Nearby

Tornado Watches in New Mexico, 1997 Every tornado watch 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.