Alert archive / New Mexico / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2008

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 261

May 5, 200816 counties in New Mexico; Cimarron County, Oklahoma; 12 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 5, 2008, 12:34 PM MDT for 16 counties in New Mexico; Cimarron County, Oklahoma; 12 counties in Texas. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 5, 2008, 12:34 PM MDT (18:34 UTC)
Expired
May 5, 2008, 8:24 PM MDT
In force
8 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 29 counties

Chaves County, NM, Colfax County, NM, Curry County, NM, De Baca County, NM, Eddy County, NM, Guadalupe County, NM, Harding County, NM, Lea County, NM, Lincoln County, NM, Mora County, NM, Otero County, NM, Quay County, NM, Roosevelt County, NM, San Miguel County, NM, Torrance County, NM, Union County, NM, Cimarron County, OK, Bailey County, TX, Cochran County, TX, Dallam County, TX, Deaf Smith County, TX, Hartley County, TX, Moore County, TX, Oldham County, TX, Parmer County, TX, Potter County, TX, Randall County, TX, Sherman County, TX, Yoakum County, TX

The radar

The Cannon AFB radar (KFDX), 75 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:36 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 SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
20%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
5%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
80%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
40%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
95%

Warnings issued inside it

20 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 12:52 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQLincoln23 min
May 5, 1:12 PM MDTTornado WarningABQLincoln48 min
May 5, 1:59 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQLincoln46 min
May 5, 2:26 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQLincoln64 min
May 5, 3:11 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQChaves, Lincoln49 min
May 5, 3:52 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQChaves, Lincoln53 min
May 5, 4:42 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQChaves48 min
May 5, 5:20 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQHarding, San Miguel40 min
May 5, 5:28 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQChaves62 min
May 5, 6:23 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQChaves, De Baca, Roosevelt52 min
May 5, 6:46 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQHarding, Quay, Union44 min
May 5, 6:59 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMACimarron53 min
May 5, 7:12 PM MDTTornado WarningABQChaves, Roosevelt48 min
May 5, 7:14 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBBailey61 min
May 5, 7:24 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQChaves, Roosevelt66 min
May 5, 7:54 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy66 min
May 5, 7:57 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAOldham, Potter63 min
May 5, 7:59 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea61 min
May 5, 8:06 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQChaves, Roosevelt39 min
May 5, 8:24 PM MDTTornado WarningAMAOldham, Potter36 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Albuquerq/Krtlnd, NM (KABQ), launched 12:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 208 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, Albuquerq/Krtlnd, NM at 12:00Z on 2008-05-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Albuquerq/Krtlnd, NM at 12:00Z on 2008-05-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 72 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2745 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
72 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
105 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 12:07 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChaves, Curry, De Baca, Eddy, Guadalupe, Harding and 3 more53 min
May 5, 1:10 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaver, Cimarron, Ellis, Harper, Texas95 min
May 5, 5:43 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaver62 min
May 5, 1:19 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrane, Crockett, Culberson, Ector, Glasscock, Hudspeth and 13 more116 min
May 5, 2:36 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBrewster, Crane, Crockett, Culberson, Jeff Davis, Loving and 6 more5 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in New Mexico, 2008Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Texas, 2008Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Oklahoma, 2008Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2008

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.