Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1999
Tornado Warning 52, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 29, 1999, 5:09 PM MDT for Eddy County, New Mexico. It was in force for 36 min. 2 reports 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
- May 29, 1999, 5:09 PM MDT (23:09 UTC)
- Expired
- May 29, 1999, 5:45 PM MDT
- In force
- 36 min
- Issued by
- NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
- Area
- Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction
County Eddy County, NM
The radar
The Holloman AFB radar (KHDX), 170 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:13 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 29, 5:42 PM MDT | Tornado F0 | Carlsbad, NM | Brief dust whirl tornado reported by vacationing NWS Chaser. |
| May 29, 5:43 PM MDT | Hail 0.75 | Lakewood, NM | Hail falling ahead of tornado path. |
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, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 219 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1408 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 28 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 61 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 270 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
999 WFUS1 KMAF 292311 RRA TORMAF NMC015-292345- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND-ODESSA TX 509 PM MDT SAT MAY 29 1999 THE MIDLAND-ODESSA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... NORTHERN EDDY COUNTY IN NEW MEXICO * UNTIL 545 PM MDT * AT 506 PM MDT...A STORM SPOTTER REPORTED A TORNADO 7 MILES NORTHWEST OF SEVEN RIVERS...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH. * SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADIC STORM INCLUDE... DAYTON...LAKEWOOD...SEVEN RIVERS AND AVALON. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR OTHER MEDIA OUTLETS...FOR THE LATEST SEVERE WEATHER INFORMATION. LAT...LON 3275 10460 3257 10463 3241 10404 3278 10401 & SD
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 29, 1:31 PM MDT, 3 hours 38 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 29, 1:31 PM MDT, 3 hours 38 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX 231 PM CDT SAT MAY 29 1999 VISIBLE IMAGERY INDICATES REMNANT MVC LIFTING NE TOWARD LOW ROLLING PLAINS ATTM WITH LOW/MID CLOUDS LINGERING ACROSS NRN CWA. FARTHER S FULL INSOLATION IS ONGOING WITH ATMOS DESTABILIZING WITH CU IN THE DAVIS MTNS. SATELLITE DERIVED PRODUCTS INDICATES CAP STILL IN PLACE WHILE 18Z RUC LIS HAVE DROPPED TO MINUS 4 TO 6. 18Z RUC SUPPORTS BEST CAPES/LIS PECOS/TERRELL COUNTIES WHERE TEMPS ARE APPROACHING M80S. FCST WILL REFLECT FAVORED AREA FOR CONVECTION BEING FROM NEAR PECOS RIVER S TO NEAR MTNS WITH 85H THETA-E RIDGE AXIS NOTED THERE. DRYING ACROSS MTNS PER WATER VAPOR AND 18Z RUC FCST SOUNDINGS SUGGEST LESS DEVELOPMENT/INTENSITY THAN LAST NIGHT. FAVOR IDEA OF LETTING FFA EXPIRE AT 2130Z. IF TSTMS DO BLOSSOM S AND MTNS WOULD MOST LIKELY HAVE TO ISSUE FFA. MID LEVEL FLOW FINALLY BEGINS TO STRENGTHEN TMW WITH WEAK LEE TROF FORMING. AS A RESULT LOW LEVEL MSTR GRADIENT TO EVOLVE EWD AND WILL LEAVE POPS OUT OF MTNS. MID LEVEL RIDGE INTENSIFIES ACROSS MEXICO AND BUILDS NWD INTO W TX MONDAY SIGNALING AN END TO POPS AS WELL HAVE TO CONTEND WITH M90S-100 AND STRENGTHENING CINH THRU WEDNESDAY. MAF 61/92/64/95 20/20/20/- CNM 60/93/62/96 20/10/10/- MRF 52/86/55/89 20/-/-/- P07 66/94/67/97 30/20/20/- GPM
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 29, 12:00 PM MDT, 5 hours 9 minutes before
NMZ027>029-TXZ045>048-050>052-057>063-067>070-074-075-079>082-300000- THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX 1259 PM CDT (1159 AM MDT) SAT MAY 29 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: WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP LATE THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS THE AREA AS EAST TO SOUTHEAST WINDS KEEP THE ATMOSPHERE WARM...MOIST...AND UNSTABLE. DAYTIME HEATING... UPSLOPE FLOW...AND WEAK DISTURBANCES MOVING ACROSS THE AREA WILL HELP TRIGGER THE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOST LIKELY TO DEVELOP DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON NEAR THE MOUNTAINS OF WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO AND DRIFT EAST. THE CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE MINIMAL TODAY WITH A FEW STORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND. THE MAIN THREAT IS FROM SLOW MOVING STORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE FLOODING. SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED LATER TODAY. FOR THE WEST CENTRAL TEXAS OUTLOOK SEE PRODUCT LBBSPSSJT. 72
The office that day
Everything else NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 28, 9:19 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Eddy | 41 min |
| May 28, 9:22 PM MDT | Flash Flood Warning | MAF | Eddy | 3 hr |
| May 28, 9:54 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Eddy | 51 min |
| May 28, 11:00 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Lea | 45 min |
| May 28, 11:45 PM MDT | Flash Flood Warning | MAF | Lea | 2 hr |
| May 29, 5:38 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | MAF | Eddy | 52 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in New Mexico, 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.