Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2023

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 252

June 1, 2023Lea County, New Mexico; 16 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Jun 1, 2023, 3:01 PM MDT for Lea County, New Mexico; 16 counties in Texas. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jun 1, 2023, 3:01 PM MDT (21:01 UTC)
Expired: Jun 1, 2023, 7:17 PM MDT
In force: 4 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected: 2.5 in
Strongest gust expected: 60 kt

Counties Lea County, NM, Andrews County, TX, Borden County, TX, Cochran County, TX, Dawson County, TX, Fisher County, TX, Gaines County, TX, Garza County, TX, Hockley County, TX, Howard County, TX, Lynn County, TX, Martin County, TX, Mitchell County, TX, Nolan County, TX, Scurry County, TX, Terry County, TX, Yoakum County, TX

The radar

The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 94 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:04 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: 10%
Ten or more severe wind reports: 20%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more: 10%
Ten or more severe hail reports: 40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more: 40%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports: 70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 1, 3:23 PM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	MAF	Borden, Dawson	3 hr
Jun 1, 3:29 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Borden	61 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

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 109 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: 633 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -268 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1018 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 343 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 395 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

867 
WWUS20 KWNS 012059
SEL2  
SPC WW 012059
NMZ000-TXZ000-020300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 252
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
400 PM CDT Thu Jun 1 2023

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of 
  Southeast New Mexico
  West Texas

* Effective this Thursday afternoon and evening from 400 PM until
  1000 PM CDT.

* Primary threats include...
  Scattered large hail and isolated very large hail events to 2.5
    inches in diameter possible
  Isolated damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible
  A tornado or two possible

SUMMARY...Storms will continue to develop and intensify through late
afternoon, especially near a boundary across the region where the
air mass is very moist and unstable.

The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 45
statute miles north and south of a line from 35 miles west northwest
of Hobbs NM to 85 miles east northeast of Big Spring TX. For a
complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline
update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU2).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

REMEMBER...A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are
favorable for severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area.
Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for threatening
weather conditions and listen for later statements and possible
warnings. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce
tornadoes.

&&

AVIATION...A few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to
2.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A
few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean storm motion vector
28025.

...Guyer

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 1, 12:17 AM MDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Curry, Roosevelt	3 hr
Jun 1, 1:45 PM MDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Chaves, Curry, De Baca, Guadalupe, Quay, Roosevelt and 2 more	3 hr
Jun 1, 2:10 PM MDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Lea	2 hr
Jun 1, 2:36 PM MDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Archer, Baylor, Wichita, Wilbarger	114 min
Jun 1, 4:40 PM MDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Borden, Callahan, Fisher, Jones, Mitchell, Nolan and 3 more	2 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Texas, 2023 Severe Thunderstorm Watches in New Mexico, 2023 Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2023

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.