An upper level disturbance spinning ahead of a strong trough to the west supplied lift to an unstable air mass with surface temperatures in the 70s and CAPE values up to 2500 J/kg. Thunderstorms developed from late afternoon and continued throughout much of the night.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS MAF wrote it up.
An upper level disturbance spinning ahead of a strong trough to the west supplied lift to an unstable air mass with surface temperatures in the 70s and CAPE values up to 2500 J/kg. Thunderstorms developed from late afternoon and continued throughout much of the night. There were a number reports of damaging wind and large hail, with a small tornado also observed.
The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 131 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:15 UTC.
4 hail, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A supercell storm north of Pecos produced a weak tornado that caused little if any damage. The tornado dissipated before the storm passed into Ward county.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 1998Warnings in Texas, October 1998
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: 5670975, 5670976, 5671040, 5671041, 5671042.