Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

April 30, 1999Lea County, New Mexico; Gaines County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at Apr 30, 1999, 4:12 PM MDT for Lea County, New Mexico; Gaines County, Texas. It was in force for 33 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Apr 30, 1999, 4:12 PM MDT (22:12 UTC)
Expired
Apr 30, 1999, 4:45 PM MDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Lea County, NM, Gaines County, TX

The radar

The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:15 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
Apr 30, 4:13 PM MDTHail 1.75Eunice, NMThis cell formed on the south flank of the storm to the north of Eunice.

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
Apr 30, 11:15 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr
Apr 30, 4:00 PM MDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 107 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 1999-04-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 21 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 12:00Z on 1999-04-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 216 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
21 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-289 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1062 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
216 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
296 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 302215 RRA
TORMAF
NMC025-TXC165-302245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND-ODESSA TX
512 PM CDT (412 PM MDT) FRI APR 30 1999

THE MIDLAND-ODESSA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EAST CENTRAL LEA COUNTY IN NEW MEXICO
  WESTERN GAINES COUNTY IN TEXAS

* UNTIL 545 PM CDT(445 PM MDT)

* AT 410 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A
  THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR EUNICE...OR ABOUT
  21 MILES SOUTH OF HOBBS...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM YOU SHOULD TAKE SHELTER
IMMEDIATELY. MOVE INSIDE A STORM CELLAR...A BASEMENT...OR A SMALL
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOUSE.

LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS ARE ALSO LIKELY WITH THIS
STORM.

STAY TUNED TO LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR THE LATEST SEVERE WEATHER
INFORMATION.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM CDT FRIDAdY
EVENING(1000 PM MDT) FOR NEW MEXICO AND WEST TEXAS.

LAT...LON 3245 10331 3232 10317 3244 10307 3286 10282

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 29, 6:35 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy40 min
Apr 29, 7:11 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy49 min
Apr 29, 7:57 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy33 min
Apr 29, 10:19 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy26 min
Apr 30, 11:14 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy46 min
Apr 30, 12:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea45 min
Apr 30, 1:33 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea42 min
Apr 30, 2:10 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea40 min
Apr 30, 2:29 PM MDTTornado WarningMAFLea31 min
Apr 30, 2:53 PM MDTTornado WarningMAFLea37 min
Apr 30, 3:11 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningMAFLea3 hr
Apr 30, 3:27 PM MDTTornado WarningMAFLea48 min
Apr 30, 3:55 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy45 min
Apr 30, 5:52 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningMAFLea4 hr
Apr 29, 6:52 PM MDTTornado WarningMAFCulberson, Reeves38 min
Apr 29, 7:30 PM MDTTornado WarningMAFLoving, Reeves45 min
Apr 29, 7:43 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFCulberson62 min
Apr 29, 8:15 PM MDTTornado WarningMAFReeves45 min
Apr 29, 8:42 PM MDTTornado WarningMAFCulberson48 min
Apr 29, 8:44 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningMAFLoving, Reeves, Ward3 hr
Apr 30, 10:35 AM MDTTornado WarningMAFLoving25 min
Apr 30, 11:24 AM MDTFlash Flood WarningMAFReeves3 hr
Apr 30, 12:02 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLoving18 min
Apr 30, 12:13 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFBrewster62 min
Apr 30, 12:18 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFPecos42 min
Apr 30, 1:08 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFBrewster37 min
Apr 30, 1:49 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLoving26 min
Apr 30, 1:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFTerrell47 min
Apr 30, 3:32 PM MDTTornado WarningMAFGaines43 min
Apr 30, 4:47 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFGaines58 min
Apr 30, 5:21 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLoving44 min
Apr 30, 5:40 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFGaines50 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in New Mexico, 1999Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.