Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

October 27, 1998Lea County, New Mexico

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 27, 1998, 3:52 PM MST for Lea County, New Mexico. It was in force for 48 min. 2 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
Oct 27, 1998, 3:52 PM MST (22:52 UTC)
Expired
Oct 27, 1998, 4:40 PM MST
In force
48 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 22:54 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
Oct 27, 4:08 PM MSTTornado F0Eunice, NMA New Mexico State Police Trooper reported a brief tornado over open country.
Oct 27, 4:25 PM MSTHail 1Eunice, NMThe supercell storm that crossed Eddy County moved over rural parts of Lea County before striking Eunice. This storm then crossed the Texas border into northeastern Andrews County.

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, 10.9 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 1998-10-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 14 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 1998-10-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 120 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
14 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-232 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
777 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
120 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
122 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 272254 RRA
TORMAF
NMC025-272340-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
452 PM CST (352 PM MST) TUE OCT 27 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN LEA COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO

* UNTIL 440 PM MST

* AT 350 PM MST... MIDLAND DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING
  TORNADO 29 MILES SOUTHWEST OF HOBBS OR 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
  EUNICE... MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE... EUNICE.

ABANDON MOBILE HOMES! GO IN A NEARBY STURDY BUILDING. AS A LAST
RESORT LIE FLAT IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD.

SD/RB

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 27, 2:04 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy31 min
Oct 27, 2:27 PM MSTTornado WarningMAFEddy33 min
Oct 27, 2:37 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningMAFEddy93 min
Oct 27, 3:00 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy, Lea50 min
Oct 27, 3:09 PM MSTTornado WarningMAFLea31 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in New Mexico, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes in 1998

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.