Alert archive / New Mexico / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2012

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 268

May 8, 20128 counties in New Mexico; 6 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 8, 2012, 1:07 PM MDT for 8 counties in New Mexico; 6 counties in Texas. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 8, 2012, 1:07 PM MDT (19:07 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 2012, 8:00 PM MDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Catron County, NM, Doña Ana County, NM, Grant County, NM, Hidalgo County, NM, Luna County, NM, Otero County, NM, Sierra County, NM, Socorro County, NM, Brewster County, TX, Culberson County, TX, El Paso County, TX, Hudspeth County, TX, Jeff Davis County, TX, Presidio County, TX

The radar

The Holloman AFB radar (KHDX), 62 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:09 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
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
20%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 1:11 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEPZLuna, Sierra49 min
May 8, 1:35 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEPZSierra40 min
May 8, 2:05 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEPZLuna40 min
May 8, 2:43 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEPZLuna, Sierra47 min
May 8, 2:46 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningEPZDoña Ana, Luna, Sierra89 min
May 8, 3:16 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEPZDoña Ana, Luna44 min
May 8, 3:26 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEPZLuna32 min
May 8, 4:56 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFPresidio64 min
May 8, 6:16 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFBrewster, Pecos, Terrell59 min
May 8, 7:29 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFBrewster, Pecos, Terrell61 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

Santa Teresa, NM (KEPZ), launched 12:00Z, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 83 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, Santa Teresa, NM at 12:00Z on 2012-05-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 187 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, Santa Teresa, NM at 12:00Z on 2012-05-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 75 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
187 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-196 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1649 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
75 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
39 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 7, 8:46 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCEddy, Lea89 min
May 8, 12:37 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDoña Ana, Grant, Luna, Otero, Sierra113 min
May 8, 3:53 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCatron, Doña Ana, Grant, Hidalgo, Luna, Otero and 2 more67 min
May 7, 6:39 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCamp, Gregg, Harrison, Marion, Morris, Panola and 5 more4 hr
May 7, 6:54 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtascosa, Bandera, Bastrop, Bee, Bexar, Brazos and 40 more66 min
May 7, 8:15 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCamp, Cass, Gregg, Harrison, Marion, Morris and 6 more60 min
May 8, 12:42 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Dimmit, Edwards and 13 more93 min
May 8, 9:44 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBee, Brooks, Duval, Frio, Goliad, Jim Hogg and 11 more61 min
May 8, 9:58 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAransas, Atascosa, Bee, Brooks, Calhoun, Cameron and 28 more8 hr
May 8, 2:03 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCameron, Hidalgo, Starr, Willacy87 min
May 8, 4:47 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCameron, Hidalgo, Kenedy, Willacy58 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in New Mexico, 2012Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Texas, 2012Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2012

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.