A surface ridge across central Texas resulted in southeast winds which allowed for a plentiful supply of moisture across West Texas and southeast New Mexico. A shortwave moved across the area providing a source of lift.
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.
A surface ridge across central Texas resulted in southeast winds which allowed for a plentiful supply of moisture across West Texas and southeast New Mexico. A shortwave moved across the area providing a source of lift. This lift along with sufficient instability aided in severe thunderstorm development and flash flooding across southeast New Mexico.
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 13, 3:04 PM MST, 2 hours 51 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX
504 PM CDT SUN MAY 13 2012
.DISCUSSION...
SEE AVIATION DISCUSSION BELOW.
&&
.AVIATION...
MESSY SITUATION SHAPING UP FOR THE NEXT 24 HRS...AS WV IMAGERY
SHOWS AN UPPER TROUGH MOVING THRU THE FOUR CORNERS AREA AND
APPROACHING SE NM/WEST TEXAS. THIS WILL RESULT IN INCREASING
CHANCES OF CONVECTION FOR THE NEXT 24 HRS. FORECAST SOUNDINGS
SUGGEST WIDESPREAD MVFR CIGS ACCOMPANYING CONVECTION...W/IFR VSBYS
ACCOMPANYING THE HEAVIER STORMS.
&&
.MAF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NM...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON FOR THE FOLLOWING
ZONES... CENTRAL LEA COUNTY...EDDY COUNTY PLAINS...NORTHERN
LEA COUNTY...SOUTHERN LEA COUNTY.
TX...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH MONDAY EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING
ZONES... ANDREWS...CRANE...DAWSON...ECTOR...GAINES...
GLASSCOCK...LOVING...MARTIN...MIDLAND...PECOS...REAGAN...
REEVES COUNTY AND UPPER TRANS PECOS...UPTON...WARD...
WINKLER.
&&
44HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 202 PM CDT SUN MAY 13 2012 NMZ027>029-033-034-TXZ045>048-050>053-057>063-067>070-074-075- 079>082-258-141915- GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS OF EDDY COUNTY-EDDY COUNTY PLAINS- NORTHERN LEA COUNTY-CENTRAL LEA COUNTY-SOUTHERN LEA COUNTY-GAINES- DAWSON-BORDEN-SCURRY-ANDREWS-MARTIN-HOWARD-MITCHELL- VAN HORN AND HIGHWAY 54 CORRIDOR-REEVES COUNTY AND UPPER TRANS PECOS- LOVING-WINKLER-ECTOR-MIDLAND-GLASSCOCK-WARD-CRANE-UPTON-REAGAN- DAVIS/APACHE MOUNTAINS AREA-PECOS-PRESIDIO VALLEY-MARFA PLATEAU- BIG BEND AREA-TERRELL-GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS- 202 PM CDT SUN MAY 13 2012 /102 PM MDT SUN MAY 13 2012/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO...SOUTHWEST TEXAS AND WEST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER MUCH OF WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO TONIGHT. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BE SEVERE...ESPECIALLY ALONG AND WEST OF A TATUM TO MIDLAND TO SANDERSON LINE. THE MAIN CONCERNS WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. IN ADDITION...HEAVY RAINFALL MAY LEAD TO FLASH FLOODING. RAINFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR ARE POSSIBLE IN SOME OF THE STRONGER STORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD OVER THE AREA MONDAY...ESPECIALLY ALONG AND EAST OF THE PECOS RIVER. HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLASH FLOODING WILL BE THE MAIN CONCERN WITH THESE STORMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED AFTER 5 PM CDT OR 4 PM MDT. 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://WEATHER.GOV/MIDLAND
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 645 PM MDT SUN MAY 13 2012 NMZ028-140115- EDDY COUNTY PLAINS- 645 PM MDT SUN MAY 13 2012 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR STRONG THUNDERSTORMS AFFECTING NORTHERN EDDY COUNTY UNTIL 715 PM MDT... A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 3 MILES WEST OF COTTONWOOD AT 645 PM MDT...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH. HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS AND 50 MPH WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. IN ADDITION... HEAVY RAIN AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING WILL BE POSSIBLE. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT. IF SEVERE WEATHER IS OBSERVED OR A WARNING IS ISSUED...ACT QUICKLY AND MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IN A STURDY STRUCTURE...SUCH AS A BASEMENT OR SMALL INTERIOR ROOM. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM MDT SUNDAY EVENING FOR SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO. &&
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A thunderstorm moved over Eddy County and produced a 62 mph wind gust two miles west of Artesia.
A thunderstorm moved across Eddy County and produced a 60 mph wind gust eight miles south of Artesia.
A thunderstorm produced heavy rain over Eddy County with a report of flash flooding in Carlsbad. There was four to ten inches of runoff on North Lake Road running north out of northeast Carlsbad to Brantley Park. The cost of damage is estimated at zero since there was no damage reported.
A thunderstorm moved over Eddy County and produced heavy rain in Carlsbad. There was six inches of running water over Sixth Street in Carlsbad. Since there was no damage reported, the cost for the damage will be estimated at zero dollars.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, May 2012
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: 374574, 374539, 374576, 374534, 374546, 381977, 374438, 381338.