Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 29, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

October 30, 1998Lea County, New Mexico

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 30, 1998, 6:25 PM MST for Lea County, New Mexico. It was in force for 50 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
Oct 30, 1998, 6:25 PM MST (01:25 UTC)
Expired
Oct 30, 1998, 7:15 PM MST
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 01:24 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 30, 6:33 PM MSTThunderstorm WindJal, NMPower lines knocked down.

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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Oct 30, 2:15 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr
Oct 30, 3:45 PM MSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 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 1998-10-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 728 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 00:00Z on 1998-10-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 22 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
728 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-220 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1105 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
22 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
89 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 310126
TORMAF
NMC025-310215-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
725 PM CST (625 PM MST) FRI OCT 30 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 715 PM MST (815 PM CST)

* AT 623 PM MST... MIDLAND DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING
  TORNADO 21 MILES NORTH OF WINK OR 6 MILES EAST OF BENNETT...
 P MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

THE TORNADO IS CURRENTLY EXPECTED TO MOVE TOWARD HIGHWAY 128 EAST OF
JAL.

IF YOU ARE IN A MULTIPLE STORY BUILDING...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR
ROOM AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

GPM/EMP

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 30, 5:53 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea47 min
Oct 30, 7:04 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningMAFLea3 hr
Oct 30, 7:47 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea33 min
Oct 30, 8:03 PM MSTTornado WarningMAFLea32 min
Oct 30, 10:08 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea62 min
Oct 30, 11:14 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea61 min
Oct 31, 12:29 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea56 min
Oct 31, 8:49 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea46 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.