Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 2, NWS El Paso, TX

October 26, 2002Otero County, New Mexico

NWS El Paso, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 26, 2002, 6:46 PM MDT for Otero County, New Mexico. It was in force for 44 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Oct 26, 2002, 6:46 PM MDT (00:46 UTC)
Expired: Oct 26, 2002, 7:30 PM MDT
In force: 44 min
Issued by: NWS El Paso, TX
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Otero County, NM

The watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Oct 26, 3:35 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Santa Teresa, NM (KEPZ), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 79 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: 242 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2375 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 75 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 57 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 154 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.

815 
WFUS54 KEPZ 270046
TORELP
NMC035-270130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX
645 PM MDT SAT OCT 26 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EL PASO HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WEST CENTRAL OTERO COUNTY IN NEW MEXICO

* UNTIL 730 PM MDT

* AT 637 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF OROGRANDE...OR ABOUT 21 MILES
  NORTHEAST OF CHAPARRAL...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR OROGRANDE AT 700 PM MDT

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS. BEWARE OF THE THREAT OF
RISING WATER.

TORNADOES ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS AT NIGHT BECAUSE THY ARE HARD TO
SEE. TAKE COVER NOW. A BASEMENT OFFERS THE BEST PROTECTION. IF NO
BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK REFUGE IN A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS
A CLOSET ON THE LOWERST FLOOR. YOU MAY ONLY HAVE A FEW SECONDS.
ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A STRONG BUILDING OR GET INTO A
DITCH OR CULVERT.

STAY TUNED TO YOUR WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL BROADCAST MEDIA OUTLETS FOR
THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM MDT
SATURDAY EVENING FOR NEW MEXICO AND TEXAS.

LAT...LON 3233 10635 3220 10620 3254 10576 3261 10606

The office that day

Everything else NWS El Paso, TX issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 26, 6:37 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EPZ	Otero	53 min
Oct 26, 6:37 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EPZ	Otero	53 min
Oct 26, 6:46 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	EPZ	Otero	44 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in New Mexico, 2002 Every tornado warning in 2002 Tornadoes in 2002

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.