Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 24, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 1, 1999Gaines County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 1, 1999, 4:06 PM CDT for Gaines County, Texas. It was in force for 24 min. No storm report in the archive falls 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.

The facts

Issued: May 1, 1999, 4:06 PM CDT (21:06 UTC)
Expired: May 1, 1999, 4:30 PM CDT
In force: 24 min
Issued by: NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Gaines County, TX

The radar

The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 75 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:07 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.

The watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 1, 3:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 74 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: 199 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 536 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 317 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 505 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 4.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

999 
WFUS1 KMAF 012109 RRA
TORMAF
TXC165-012130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND-ODESSA TX
406 PM CDT SAT MAY 1 1999

THE MIDLAND-ODESSA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEASTERN GAINES COUNTY IN TEXAS

* UNTIL 430 PM CDT

* AT 401 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED  
  A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO OVER SOUTHEASTERN
  GAINES COUNTY...OR ABOUT 17 MILES NORTHEAST OF   ANDREWS...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A
TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO STRUCTURE
IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 PM CDT 
SATURDAY EVENING(700 PM MDT) FOR TEXAS.

LAT...LON 3252 10258 3252 10221 3282 10220

DJK

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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 tornado warning went out at May 1, 1:45 PM CDT, 2 hours 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 1, 1:45 PM CDT, 2 hours 21 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
145 PM CDT SAT MAY 1 1999

BLOCKING PATTERN OVER THE CENTRAL U.S. FINALLY BEGINNING TO BREAK UP.
MAIN CHALLENGE THIS PERIOD IS TO FIGURE OUT THE JUST HOW QUICKLY THE
UPPER LOW WILL LIFT OUT OF THE SWRN US...AND MUCH OF THIS WILL DEPEND
ON THE TIMING AND MOVEMENT OF THE OTHER LOW OFF THE SERN U.S. COAST.
IT LOOKS LIKE THE SERN LOW WILL FINALLY BEGIN TO PROGRESS EWD...AND
THIS SHOULD ALLOW THE LOW TO OUR WEST TO BEGIN LIFTING OUT ON
SUNDAY. FOR TONIGHT...SIGNIFICANT CONVECTION IS THE MAIN CONCERN. I
BELIEVE THE DRYLINE WILL CONTINUE TO ADVANCE EWD THIS AFTERNOON AND
KICK OFF STORMS. WITH THE LOW BEGINNING TO LIFT...I EXPECT A SERIES
OF SHORTWAVES TO EJECT OUT OF THE SYSTEM...AND THIS WILL PROBABLY
KEEP CONVECTION ACTIVE TONIGHT. TOMORROW THE LOW BEGINS TO LIFT...BUT
I STILL EXPECT SOME LINGERING CLOUDS AND PCPN DURING THE MORNING
HOURS. LOOKS LIKE SOME DRIER SFC AIR WILL SWEEP IN FROM THE WEST
DURING THE AFTERNOON TOMORROW AS THE SFC LOW LIFTS NORTH...BUT WINDS
SHOULD QUICKLY SWITCH BACK AROUND TO A SLY OR SELY DIRECTION LATE
SUNDAY NIGHT...AND THEN BECOME MORE SWLY DURING THE DAY ON MONDAY FOR
A BIT OF A WARMUP. UPPER LEVEL FLOW PATTERN ON MONDAY SHOULD BE
NEARLY ZONAL.

PRELIM TEMPS/POPS...
MAF 52/78/53/85 4200
CNM 52/81/52/87 3100
MRF 45/77/45/80 2100
P07 58/79/56/86 3100

DJK

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 30, 7:16 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MAF	Gaines	3 hr
Apr 30, 7:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Gaines	39 min
Apr 30, 9:58 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MAF	Dawson, Gaines	107 min
Apr 30, 10:19 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MAF	Dawson	101 min
Apr 30, 11:30 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MAF	Borden	2 hr
May 1, 2:37 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MAF	Andrews	68 min
May 1, 3:20 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MAF	Gaines	3 hr
May 1, 3:58 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MAF	Andrews, Ector	32 min
May 1, 4:25 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MAF	Dawson, Gaines	35 min
May 1, 4:29 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MAF	Andrews	46 min
May 1, 4:56 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MAF	Dawson	34 min
May 1, 5:36 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MAF	Martin	24 min
May 1, 5:56 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MAF	Martin	34 min
May 1, 6:30 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MAF	Martin	30 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1999 Every tornado warning in 1999 Tornadoes 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.