Alert archive / New Mexico / Flash Flood Warnings in 1999

Flash Flood Warning 22, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 22, 1999Eddy County, New Mexico

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this flash flood warning at May 22, 1999, 7:38 PM MDT for Eddy County, New Mexico. It was in force for 4 hr. 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 22, 1999, 7:38 PM MDT (01:38 UTC)
Expired
May 23, 1999, 12:00 AM MDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Eddy County, NM

The nearest sounding before it

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 00:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 206 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 1999-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1296 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 1999-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 0 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1296 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-57 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2289 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
0 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
74 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 230143 COR
FFWMAF
NMC015-230600-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED...CORRECTED TEXT IN PARAGRAPH #1
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND-ODESSA TX
738 PM MDT SAT MAY 22 1999

THE MIDLAND-ODESSA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  EDDY COUNTY IN NEW MEXICO

* UNTIL MIDNIGHT MDT

* AT 735 PM MDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED TWO 
CLUSTERS OF THUNDERSTORMS COLLIDING OVER WESTERN EDDY COUNTY NEAR 
QUEEN.  EXTREMELY HEAVY RAINS ARE EXPECTED IN DARK CANYON.  

* LOCATIONS IN THE MOST PRONE AREA ARE QUEEN...WHITES 
CITY...CARLSBAD CAVERNS NATIONAL PARK AND THE CITY OF CARLSBAD WHERE 
DARK CANYON FLOWS INTO TOWN.  PEOPLE SHOULD DELAY TRAVEL ON STATE 
HIGHWAY 137 AND ON OTHER COUNTY ROADS NEAR DARK CANYON!

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS
SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY.
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED ACT
QUICKLY. MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY
IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

GNM

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at May 22, 12:46 PM MDT, 6 hours 52 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 22, 12:46 PM MDT, 6 hours 52 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
146 PM CDT SAT MAY 22 1999

CLOUDS HAVE KEPT TEMPS DOWN TODAY... BUT WITH SKIES BREAKING OUT...
TEMPS STARTING TO CLIMB AND ADD TO DESTABILIZATION.  STILL HAVE UPPER
RIDGE EXTENDING FROM MEXICO ACROSS THE AREA... BUT THAT AND THE CAP
WERE NOT ENOUGH TO KEEP STORMS FROM DEVELOPING OUT WEST YESTERDAY.
WITH HIGH DEWPOINTS AND PLENTY OF CAPE EXPECT TO SEE SCATTERED STORMS
AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON... SHOULD START IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS WITH
UPSLOPE FLOW.  EARLIER SATELLITE SHOWED SOME OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES FROM
YESTERDAYS CONVECTION... ALTHOUGH THESE HAVE BECOME MORE DIFFUSE...
COULD STILL HELP TO FOCUS STORMS LATER TODAY.  HAVE REMOVED MENTION
OF SEVERE FROM TONIGHT... DO NOT EXPECT WIDE SPREAD SEVERE... BUT
A FEW STORMS COULD REACH SEVERE LIMITS.  BEST CHANCE OF RAIN STILL
APPEARS TO BE EARLY NEXT WEEK AS CUT OFF LOW FINALLY LIFTS EASTWARD.
INITIAL NUMBERS FOLLOW... WORK ZONES SHORTLY.

MAF 68/91/65/91  2221
CNM 65/89/65/90  2231
MRF 55/85/54/86  2221
P07 69/90/69/89  2121

72

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 22, 2:44 PM MDT, 4 hours 54 minutes before
NMZ027>029-TXZ045>048-050>052-057>063-067>070-074-075-079>082-230500-

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
343 PM CDT (243 PM MDT) SAT MAY 22 1999

THIS OUTLOOK PERTAINS TO THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN WEST TEXAS:

ANDREWS   CULBERSON  GLASSCOCK   MARTIN    REAGAN   UPTON
BORDEN    DAWSON     HOWARD      MIDLAND   REEVES   WARD
BREWSTER  ECTOR      JEFF DAVIS  PECOS     SCURRY   WINKLER
CRANE     GAINES     LOVING      PRESIDIO  TERRELL

AND IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO:

EDDY      LEA

SYNOPSIS:
LOW LEVEL MOISTURE CONTINUES TO FILTER INTO THE ENTIRE REGION AS A
SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS PUSH ACROSS THE AREA.  AN UPPER LEVEL
DISTURBANCE OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IS EXPECTED TO MOVE LITTLE
DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.  BETTER CHANCES OF STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS
WILL BE IN THE WESTERN PARTS OF THE AREA...CLOSER TO THIS
DISTURBANCE...WHERE A FEW STORMS COULD BRIEFLY BECOME SEVERE WITH
HAIL UP TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER AND WIND GUSTS OVER 60 MPH LATE
THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING.

THE MAIN THREAT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ALONG AND WEST OF A LINE
FROM HOBBS...TO KERMIT...TO FORT STOCKTON...TO MARATHON LINE.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED IN THE WESTERN PARTS OF THE
REGION.

FOR THE WEST CENTRAL TEXAS OUTLOOK SEE PRODUCT LBBSPSSJT.

MATHEWS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 22, 6:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy59 min
May 22, 6:59 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy31 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in New Mexico, 1999Every flash flood warning in 1999

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.