| Record flooding, tornadoes, and severe thunderstorms associated
with 3 to 4 days of thunderstorms and heavy rain occurred over West
Texas and southeastern New Mexico between April 2 and April 4. A powerful
upper level low pressure system located in southwestern Arizona from
Thursday, April 1 through Monday, April 5 played a major role in the
development of thunderstorms over the Midland County Warning Area
(CWA). A series of mid and upper level disturbances rounded the base
of the low and tracked across the WFO Midland CWA during the first
week in April. Click here
to view a loop (~ 1mb) of satellite images depicting the low pressure
center as it tracked across the southwestern United States. Near the
surface, moist, easterly upslope flow helped feed abundant amounts
of moisture into the area. Intensification of thunderstorms was noted
in areas of locally maximized instability and upper level diffluent
flow, and closely coincided with the timing of mid-level shortwave
troughs crossing the area.
During this severe weather outbreak, the National Weather Service
in Midland was in close contact with emergency management and other
officials within our county warning area. It was only through the
dedicated teamwork of emergency management, state and local law
enforcement personnel, the media, the amateur radio community, SKYWARN
spotters, firefighters, EMS personnel, the National Weather Service,
and many other groups working together that these early April severe
weather events resulted in no direct fatalities. We are accustomed
to severe weather during the springtime across West Texas and southeastern
New Mexico. However, the extreme nature of these events within such
a short span of time, make the severe weather episodes of April
2004 quite historic. A preliminary summary of storm reports can
be found here.
| Click the Dust Devil Dispatch links to the right
to learn about events that have affected our forecast area this
spring. |
|
|
|
weather.gov 
