A long-lived supercell with a history of producing tornadoes over Chaves County propagated east-southeast across the plains of southeastern New Mexico during the late evening of the 30th. This storm produced damaging winds and large hail as it affected portions of central Lea County.
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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.
A long-lived supercell with a history of producing tornadoes over Chaves County propagated east-southeast across the plains of southeastern New Mexico during the late evening of the 30th. This storm produced damaging winds and large hail as it affected portions of central Lea 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 May 30, 2:13 AM MST, 17 hours 57 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 413 AM CDT MON MAY 30 2005 CORRECTED TYPO FIRST PARA .SHORT TERM... UPPER AIR DIAGNOSTICS AND WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOW A WEAK UPPER CYCLONIC CIRCULATION OVER THE MAF CWFA...WHILE AT THE SURFACE... A WEAK BOUNDARY EXTENDS FROM KTCC SOUTH TO NEAR KPEQ...THEN FROM THERE SOUTHEAST ALONG THE PECOS RIVER VALLEY. CONVECTIVE DEBRIS IS GRADUALLY DISSIPATING OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE AREA...AND WITH GENERALLY LIGHT WINDS...A MOIST PBL...AND INCREASING LONGWAVE RADIATIVE EFFICIENCY...FOG FORMATION WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER MAINLY THE NORTHEASTERN THIRD OF THE CWFA. A SLIGHT INCREASE IN WINDS NORTH AND EAST OF THE BOUNDARY WILL PROMOTE SOME MIXING AND LESSEN THE LIKELIHOOD OF FOG...AND IN ANY EVENT VISIBILITIES SHOULD REMAIN ABOVE SIX KM...WITH SOME LOCALIZED AREAS ALONG THE BOUNDARY PERHAPS FALLING BELOW FOUR KM. UPSTREAM...A COMPACT UPPER LOW IS LOCATED OVER CENTRAL NEVADA. THIS FEATURE IS EXPECTED TO OPEN INTO A SHORTWAVE TROUGH AS IT TRANSLATES OVER THE CENTRAL ROCKIES THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SURFACE PRESSURE FALLS OVER THE CENTRAL HIGH PLAINS IN RESPONSE TO THE APPROACH OF THIS SHORTWAVE TROUGH AND SENSIBLE HEATING WILL ACT FRONTOLYTICALLY ON THE SURFACE BOUNDARY...WITH THE LOW LEVEL FLOW VEERING TO A SOUTHEASTERLY DIRECTION AND INCREASING SOMEWHAT. THIS WILL KEEP LOW LEVEL MOISTURE BANKED UP AGAINST THE HIGHER TERRAIN THIS MORNING...AND WHILE MIXING WILL LOWER DEWPOINTS BELOW 15C ACROSS GENERALLY THE WESTERN THIRD OF THE CWFA THIS AFTERNOON... DEVELOPMENT OF A SHARP ISODROSOTHERMAL GRADIENT IS NOT ANTICIPATED. BY MID AFTERNOON...TWO AREAS OF CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT ARE EXPECTED. THE FIRST AREA WILL BE INITIALLY ALONG THE SACRAMENTOS EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...THEN SPREADING SOUTHEAST ALONG THE DECAYING FRONTAL BOUNDARY. BUOYANCY IS EXPECTED TO BE BETTER OVER SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO EAST ACROSS THE WESTERN PERMIAN BASIN...WHERE MLCAPES OVER 2000 J/KG ARE EXPECTED. LAPSE RATES AND THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW WILL INCREASE OVER THIS AREA AS ADIABATIC ASCENT AHEAD OF THE AFOREMENTIONED SHORTWAVE TROUGH COOL THE COLUMN AND INCREASE THE HEIGHT GRADIENT...RESPECTIVELY. CONSEQUENTLY...0-6KM SHEAR MAGNITUDES INCREASE TO NEAR 20 M/S ALONG WITH AN INCREASE IN DIRECTIONAL SHEAR WITH HEIGHT. THE MID LEVEL FLOW...HOWEVER...IS FORECAST TO BE MODEST...WITH AT MOST 10 TO 15 M/S BY MID AFTERNOON. LITTLE CIN IS FORECAST...FAVORING MULTIPLE AREAS OF CONVECTION BY MID TO LATE AFTERNOON. THUS WE EXPECT A MULTICELL MODE WITH A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY EARLY ON IN THEIR EVOLUTION. DESPITE FAVORABLE DIRECTIONAL SHEAR...THE WEAK MIDLEVEL FLOW WILL LIMIT TORNADOGENETIC POTENTIAL AS PRECIP LOADING AND SUBSEQUENT COLD POOL GENERATION UNDERCUT STORM UPDRAFTS. FARTHER SOUTH...OVER THE DAVIS MOUNTAINS...SCATTERED CONVECTION IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP BY MID AFTERNOON AS SURFACE HEATING RAISES MLCAPES TO 1000 TO 1500 J/KG AND CONVECTIVE INHIBITION IS LOWERED. DEEP LAYER SHEAR IS WEAKER HERE...AND THUS WE EXPECT NON-SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THIS AREA. ACROSS BOTH AREAS...PRECIP WATER VALUES NEAR 2.5 CM AND ANTECEDENT SOIL MOISTURE ACROSS MANY AREAS SUGGEST A MODEST FLASH FLOOD POTENTIAL. WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE GREATER COVERAGE BEFORE PULLING THE TRIGGER ON A FFA. CONSEQUENTLY A WATCH WILL NOT BE ISSUED...HOWEVER WE WILL MENTION THE POTENTIAL FOR LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING IN THE FORTHCOMING HWO. OTHERWISE WE EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO BE A BIT WARMER THAN THE PAST FEW DAYS GIVEN IMPROVED INSOLATION. THE FORECAST GRIDS REFLECT A BLEND OF THE PREVIOUS FORECAST AND A CONSENSUS OF THE NAM AND GFS TEMPERED BY GUIDANCE AND LOCAL EFFECTS. PLACEMENT OF QPF MAXIMA FOLLOWS SREF FORECASTS...AND WHILE LOCAL AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF 2.5 CM ARE POSSIBLE...WE DID NOT GET CARRIED AWAY WITH QPF AMOUNTS GIVEN THE EXPECTED CONVECTIVE COVERAGE. .LONG TERM... NORTHWEST FLOW WILL DEVELOP ALOFT BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON. GFS INDICATES A WEAK SHORTWAVE MOVING THROUGH THE FLOW OVER OUR CWA DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. AT THE SURFACE...GFS DEVELOPS A TROUGH THAT EXTENDS FROM THE TX/OK PANHANDLES SOUTH SOUTHEAST TO NEAR KDRT. THE NAM SUGGESTS THE SFC TROUGH WILL BE FARTHER WEST EXTENDING FROM NORTHEASTERN NM SOUTH THROUGH THE PECOS RIVER VALLEY. WILL BACK SLIGHT CHANCE POPS SLIGHTLY TO THE WEST DUE TO UNCERTAINTY AT THIS POINT IN WHERE THE DRYLINE/BEST SURFACE CONVERGENCE WILL BE. THE AIRMASS TO THE EAST OF THE DRYLINE WILL BE UNSTABLE REGARDLESS OF THE EXACT LOCATION...AND DIRECTIONAL SHEAR WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR ORGANIZED CONVECTION WITH SOME STORMS REACHING SEVERE CRITERIA POSSIBLE. THE MAIN THREATS WITH THESE STORMS IF THEY DEVELOP ARE EXPECTED TO BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. RIDGING ALOFT MOVES IN LATE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON INTO THURSDAY MORNING. HAVE LOWERED POPS SLIGHTLY DURING THIS TIME PERIOD. A SHORTWAVE TROUGH AHEAD OF THE DEEPENING MAIN WESTERN CONUS TROUGH WILL MOVE THROUGH IN SOUTHWEST FLOW ON THURSDAY NIGHT. IF THE SHORTWAVE VERIFIES...BACKING LOW LEVEL FLOW AHEAD OF THE TROUGH PASSAGE WILL INCREASE MOISTURE...AND LIFT ASSOCIATED WITH THE SHORTWAVE COULD INITIATE PRECIP OVER THE CWA. HAVE INCREASED POP CHANCES TO CHANCE FOR THURSDAY NIGHT OVER EASTERN AREAS OF THE CWA. DO NOT BELIEVE THE QPF OUTPUT FOR THE EVENT...BUT INCREASING POPS SEEMS REASONABLE. AFTER THURSDAY NIGHT...WE REMAIN UNDER SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT...WITH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE REMAINING OVER MUCH OF THE EASTERN HALF OF THE CWA. WILL LEAVE SLIGHT CHANCE AND ISOLATED POPS IN THE FORECAST WITH THIS SCENARIO AS WE WILL BE UNSTABLE...AND ANY SHORTWAVES EMBEDDED IN THE FLOW WILL ENHANCE CHANCES FOR CONVECTION DURING THE EXTENDED FORECAST. MADE MINIMAL CHANGES TO TEMPERATURES THROUGHOUT THE EXTENDED FORECAST...SHOULD REMAIN NEAR NORMAL FOR MOST OF THE TIME PERIOD. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BIG SPRING TX 83 64 92 63 / 20 30 30 20 CARLSBAD NM 89 62 93 62 / 20 20 0 0 DRYDEN TX 89 66 96 67 / 20 20 20 10 FORT STOCKTON TX 89 66 95 66 / 30 40 20 10 GUADALUPE PASS TX 88 60 88 60 / 10 10 0 0 HOBBS NM 86 63 91 62 / 20 20 0 0 MARFA TX 84 53 87 57 / 30 20 10 0 MIDLAND INTL AIRPORT TX 84 64 92 64 / 30 30 20 20 ODESSA TX 85 65 92 64 / 30 30 20 10 WINK TX 92 64 100 66 / 30 30 10 10 && .MAF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NM...NONE. TX...NONE. && 70/20
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 156 PM CDT MON MAY 30 2005 NMZ027>029-033-034-TXZ045>048-050>053-057>063-067>070-074-075- 079>082-258-311856- 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- 156 PM CDT MON MAY 30 2005 (1256 PM MDT MON MAY 30 2005) THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER THE OUTLOOK AREA TONIGHT AS AN UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS THE REGION. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BE SEVERE OVER THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PERMIAN BASIN AND THE EXTREME EASTERN SECTIONS OF SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO THIS EVENING. THE MAIN THREATS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING WILL ALSO OCCUR WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ON TUESDAY OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE PERMIAN BASIN. THE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BE SEVERE EAST OF A LAMESA TO STANTON LINE. LARGE HAIL AND STRONG WIND GUSTS ARE THE PRIMARY CONCERNS. ISOLATED TO WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE THE REST OF THE WEEK. THE BEST CHANCE WILL BE OVER THE LOWER TRANS PECOS AND THE EASTERN PERMIAN BASIN THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY. SMALL HAIL...GUSTY WINDS...AND HEAVY RAIN ARE THE PRIMARY CONCERNS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED OVER THE PERMIAN BASIN THIS EVENING. ON TUESDAY EVENING...SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED OVER THE NORTHEASTERN PERMIAN BASIN AND THE WESTERN LOW ROLLING PLAINS EAST OF A LAMESA TO STANTON LINE. THIS PRODUCT...ALONG WITH OTHER WATCHES...WARNINGS...ADVISORIES... AND STATEMENTS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN MIDLAND CAN BE FOUND ON THE INTERNET AT (LOWER CASE) HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/MIDLAND
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 909 PM CDT MON MAY 30 2005 NMZ028-029-033-034-310330- CENTRAL LEA COUNTY-EDDY COUNTY PLAINS-NORTHERN LEA COUNTY- SOUTHERN LEA COUNTY- 809 PM MDT MON MAY 30 2005 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT... THIS SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT IS FOR SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO... INCLUDING LEA AND EDDY COUNTIES. AT 809 PM MDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS APPROACHING NORTHEASTERN EDDY COUNTY AND WEST CENTRAL LEA COUNTY...MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM HAS HAD A HISTORY OF PRODUCING BASEBALL SIZE HAIL AS IT MOVED THROUGH DEXTER. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR ALSO CONFIRMS VERY LARGE HAIL IN THIS STORM. IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AND TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY LARGE AND DANGEROUS STORM. RESIDENTS IN THE CITIES OF MALJAMAR AND LOCO HILLS NEED TO MONITOR THE SITUATION CLOSELY AND TAKE COVER IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA. STAY TUNED TO THE NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL NEWS AGENCIES FOR THE LATEST WARNINGS AND STATEMENTS. 02
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A local utility company reported that a power pole was blown down by severe thunderstorm winds north of Maljamar.
Numerous large hail reports were received ranging in size from pennies to golfballs in the vicinity of Hobbs. Initial reports indicated penny size hail along State Highway 18 northwest of Hobbs. Additional reports indicated quarter to golfball size hail in the city. No reports of significant damage were received.
Local law enforcement officials reported that severe thunderstorm winds accompanied large hail near the the Hobbs Airport. Gusts were estimated to be 60 MPH.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, May 2005
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: 5450399, 5450483, 5450400.