Funnel Cloud, Lea
- When
- May 24, 9:00 PM CST
- Where
- Lea County, 20 mi WSW of Tatum
- Coordinates
- 32.792, -103.412 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Funnel Cloud in New Mexico, May 24, 1996
Rotating wall cloud with funnel reported by Skywarn spotters.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS MAF wrote it up.
Rotating wall cloud with funnel reported by Skywarn spotters.
The radar
The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 149 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:01 UTC.
Event by event
1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Funnel Cloud
- A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Damaging Wind in Kentucky, May 24, 1996
- Hail in North Carolina, May 24, 1996
- Hail in North Carolina, May 24, 1996
- Hail in North Carolina, May 24, 1996
- Hail in North Carolina, May 24, 1996
- High Wind in Iowa, May 24, 1996
- Hail in Iowa, May 24, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, May 24, 1996
- Flash Flood in Iowa, May 24, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Iowa, May 24, 1996
- Flash Flood in Iowa, May 24, 1996
- Flash Flood in Iowa, May 24, 1996
More
Every storm in New Mexico in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, May 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5577118.