New Mexico, 1997

Tornado in New Mexico, May 28, 1997

May 28, 1997 · NWS MAF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The storms from this day formed in a northwest flow with a Lifted Index in the -8 to -10 range. Afternoon temperatures were in the mid 80s with dew points in the upper 50s.

Where it happened

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  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$20,000
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.

The storms from this day formed in a northwest flow with a Lifted Index in the -8 to -10 range. Afternoon temperatures were in the mid 80s with dew points in the upper 50s. The most notable feature of this day was the strong directional shear with low-level winds from the ESE at about 20 kt through the lowest 3000 feet and mid to upper-level winds from the northwest at over 40 kt. A weak layer of winds at about 7-10k ft MSL may have kept the environment from producing more (and stronger) supercells.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Lea

When
May 28, 6:55 PM MST to 7:00 PM MST
Where
Lea County, 4 mi W of Hobbs
Rating
F0
Path length
0.3 mi
Path width
50 yd
Property damage
$20,000
Coordinates
32.700, -103.200

Damage occurred just west of the Hobbs city limit where RFD and tornadic winds were superimposed. The damage included a 15x20 ft wooden roof taken off an old shed, parts of two other roofs damaged, an awning from a trailer destroyed, a trailer pushed 3-4 feet off its foundation, and two utility poles downed. The tornado was sighted, and a faint trail of it could be traced in the debris pattern upon inspection, but RFD winds occurred in the area as well with much of the debris blown in a divergent pattern.

What these are

Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in New Mexico in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for New Mexico, 1997Warnings in New Mexico, May 1997

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: 5611643.