F0 tornado, Carlsbad, New Mexico, May 6, 2005

1. F040 to 72 mphthis tornado

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. F173 to 112 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. F2113 to 157 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. F3158 to 206 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. F4207 to 260 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. F5261 to 318 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

F0

Date

May 6, 2005

Touchdown

7:26 PM MDT (01:26 UTC)

Path length

0.1 miles (0.2 km)

Path width

75 yards (69 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Eddy County

Touchdown point

32.300, -103.900

Lift-off point

32.300, -103.900

Record number

766

An isolated supercell thunderstorm explosively developed southwest of Carlsbad during the early evening of Friday the 6th. This storm produced giant hail up to the size of tennis balls and two tornadoes as it slowly propagated east-northeast across Eddy and Lea Counties. The most significant damage occurred in Carlsbad when very large hail disrupted the start of a "Relay for Life" cancer benefit where several hundred people were gathered outdoors. Thanks to early warnings, emergency management officials were able to get people attending the event to shelter indoors. Although no injuries resulted, the hail caused nearly a million dollars worth of damage to homes, businesses, and vehicles throughout the city.Storm spotters observed two tornadoes as the evolving high precipitation supercell tracked over rural areas of eastern Eddy County. The tornadoes were short-lived and remained over open range land near New Mexico State Highway 128.The supercell storm eventually dissipated as it approached Eunice in eastern Lea County during the late evening hours. Hail up to the size of half dollars was reported as the storm weakened just west of the city.

A Skywarn Spotter observed the first of two tornadoes in eastern Eddy County. The tornado was described as being "fairly wide" and was located in open range land near New Mexico State Highway 128. No damage resulted from the tornado.

A Skywarn Spotter observed a second tornado in open range land along New Mexico State Highway 128 in eastern Eddy County. This tornado was relatively small and short-lived. No damage was reported.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

4 minutes of warning. NWS MAF issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:22 UTC, 4 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:45 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:51 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Carlsbad/Cavern Cty (CNM), 34 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 166 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:26 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2005 tornado in New MexicoEvery tornado in New Mexico since 1950Warnings in force in New Mexico nowThe forecast where you are

4 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.