At least five supercell thunderstorms developed in vicinity of the Guadalupe Mountains and over of the Upper Trans Pecos region of west Texas during the late afternoon and early evening of the 5th. Several of these storms displayed Doppler radar signatures characteristic of very large hail (well-defined three-body scatter spikes) and tornadic activity (strong mesocyclones and hook echo…
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.
At least five supercell thunderstorms developed in vicinity of the Guadalupe Mountains and over of the Upper Trans Pecos region of west Texas during the late afternoon and early evening of the 5th. Several of these storms displayed Doppler radar signatures characteristic of very large hail (well-defined three-body scatter spikes) and tornadic activity (strong mesocyclones and hook echo reflectivity structures). Given that the storms generally occurred over remote rural areas, however, few reports of severe weather were received. A local television meteorologist that was storm chasing in the area did observe a brief tornado in northern Reeves County.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 5, 5:58 PM CST, 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 657 PM CDT TUE OCT 5 2004 .UPDATE... UPDATED TEXT AND GRAPHICS PRODUCTS FORTHCOMING TO REFLECT UPGRADE TO TORNADO WATCH 852. && .MAF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. NM...NONE. && 70
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 245 PM CDT TUE OCT 5 2004 NMZ027>029-033-034-TXZ045>048-050>053-057>063-067>070-074-075- 079>082-258-061000- ANDREWS-BIG BEND AREA-BORDEN-CENTRAL LEA COUNTY-CRANE- DAVIS/APACHE MOUNTAINS AREA-DAWSON-ECTOR-EDDY COUNTY PLAINS-GAINES- GLASSCOCK-GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS-GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS OF EDDY COUNTY- HOWARD-LOVING-MARFA PLATEAU-MARTIN-MIDLAND-MITCHELL- NORTHERN LEA COUNTY-PECOS-PRESIDIO VALLEY-REAGAN- REEVES COUNTY AND UPPER TRANS PECOS-SCURRY-SOUTHERN LEA COUNTY- TERRELL-UPTON-VAN HORN AND HIGHWAY 54 CORRIDOR-WARD-WINKLER- 245 PM CDT (145 PM MDT) TUE OCT 5 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO AND WEST TEXAS TONIGHT. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE PRIMARY THREATS FROM THESE THUNDERSTORMS...BUT AN ISOLATED TORNADO CANNOT BE RULED OUT. DUE TO THE ABUNDANT MOISTURE IN THE ATMOSPHERE...HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS AS WELL. SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO...THE UPPER TRANS PECOS...AND THE PERMIAN BASIN WILL BE MOST LIKELY TO RECEIVE HEAVY RAINFALL...AND POSSIBLY FLASH FLOODING. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL COUNTIES TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY. SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE POSSIBLE AGAIN WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS BEING THE PRIMARY THREATS. THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY ALSO LEAD TO ADDITIONAL FLASH FLOODING ACROSS AREAS THAT RECEIVE HEAVY RAINFALL TONIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY OFFICIALS SHOULD MONITOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION. SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT. && .TECHNICAL DISCUSSION... A NUMBER OF FACTORS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT TONIGHT. VERTICAL SHEAR FROM 0 TO 6KM AGL WILL INCREASE TO THE 40KT TO 45KT RANGE AS AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH APPROACHES. SHEAR OF THIS MAGNITUDE IS SUFFICIENT FOR ORGANIZED CONVECTION TO FORM WITH SUPERCELLS POSSIBLE. THE HIGHEST VALUES OF SHEAR WILL BE LOCATED OVER SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO...SO EXPECT THE BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE WEATHER IN THIS AREA. THIS TROUGH WILL ALSO INCREASE LARGE-SCALE LIFT OVER THE AREA AS IT NEARS THE REGION. INSTABILITY HAS BEEN INCREASING THROUGHOUT THE DAY AS SUNSHINE HAS BEEN ABLE TO WARM THE BOUNDARY LAYER...AND DEWPOINTS REMAIN NEAR 60F DEGREES. LAPSE RATES GREATER THAN 7C/KM IN THE 700MB TO 500MB LAYER WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO THE ATMOSPHERIC INSTABILITY.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 402 PM CDT TUE OCT 5 2004 NMZ027>029-033-034-TXZ057>060-067-258-060200- CENTRAL LEA COUNTY NM-EDDY COUNTY PLAINS NM-GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS TX- GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS OF EDDY COUNTY NM-LOVING TX- NORTHERN LEA COUNTY NM-REEVES COUNTY AND UPPER TRANS PECOS TX- SOUTHERN LEA COUNTY NM-VAN HORN AND HIGHWAY 54 CORRIDOR TX-WARD TX- WINKLER TX- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ARTESIA...CARLSBAD...HOBBS...KERMIT... LOVINGTON...MENTONE...MONAHANS...PECOS...PINE SPRINGS... TATUM AND VAN HORN 402 PM CDT TUE OCT 5 2004 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN NORMAN OKLAHOMA HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 900 PM CDT(800 PM MDT) FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES... IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS...CULBERSON AND REEVES. IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO...EDDY AND LEA. IN WEST TEXAS...LOVING...WARD AND WINKLER. THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH INCLUDES THE CITY OF ARTESIA... CARLSBAD...HOBBS...KERMIT...LOVINGTON...MENTONE...MONAHANS...PECOS... PINE SPRINGS...TATUM AND VAN HORN.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 643 PM CDT TUE OCT 5 2004 NMZ027>029-033-034-TXZ045-050-057>062-067>069-075-258-060400- ANDREWS TX-CENTRAL LEA COUNTY NM-CRANE TX-ECTOR TX- EDDY COUNTY PLAINS NM-GAINES TX-GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS TX- GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS OF EDDY COUNTY NM-LOVING TX-MIDLAND TX- NORTHERN LEA COUNTY NM-PECOS TX- REEVES COUNTY AND UPPER TRANS PECOS TX-SOUTHERN LEA COUNTY NM- UPTON TX-VAN HORN AND HIGHWAY 54 CORRIDOR TX-WARD TX-WINKLER TX- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ANDREWS...ARTESIA...BAKERSFIELD... CARLSBAD...CRANE...FORT STOCKTON...HOBBS...KERMIT...LOVINGTON... MCCAMEY...MENTONE...MIDLAND...MONAHANS...ODESSA...PECOS... PINE SPRINGS...RANKIN...SEMINOLE...SHEFFIELD...TATUM AND VAN HORN 643 PM CDT TUE OCT 5 2004 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN NORMAN OKLAHOMA HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 1100 PM CDT(1000 PM MDT) FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES... IN WEST TEXAS...ANDREWS...CRANE...ECTOR...GAINES...LOVING... MIDLAND...UPTON...WARD AND WINKLER. IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS...CULBERSON...JEFF DAVIS...PECOS AND REEVES. IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO...EDDY AND LEA. THIS TORNADO WATCH INCLUDES THE CITY OF ANDREWS...ARTESIA... BAKERSFIELD...CARLSBAD...CRANE...FORT STOCKTON...HOBBS...KERMIT... LOVINGTON...MCCAMEY...MENTONE...MIDLAND...MONAHANS...ODESSA... PECOS...PINE SPRINGS...RANKIN...SEMINOLE...SHEFFIELD...TATUM AND VAN HORN.
The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 148 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:38 UTC.
1 tornado, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A local television broadcast meteorologist observed a brief tornado near Farm to Market Road 2119 northwest of Pecos. The tornado remained in open rangeland for less than one minute and no damage was reported.
The public reported large hail in Orla.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2004Warnings in Texas, October 2004
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: 5426588, 5426589.