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Tornado in Lea County, New Mexico

Tornado November 2, 2024 · Lea County, New Mexico

–
Not rated
6.3 mi
Path length
200 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

Not rated. NOAA lists no rating for this tornado. Ratings come from surveying damage, and the National Weather Service now records “EFU” (unknown) when a tornado hit nothing a survey team could rate.

What the National Weather Service wrote

Several storm chasers reported a large, rapidly rotating wall cloud

with a dusty circulation underneath it. This tornado was reported to

have lasted approximately 15 minutes and traveled about 6 miles. The

tornado may have briefly lifted and touched back down at times. No

damage was reported with this tornado as it remained over an

inaccessible, open oil field south of Highway 176 in rural Lea

County near the town of Oil Center. Therefore, this tornado is rated

EF-Unknown.

The wider storm

A deep late-season trough across the Southwestern United States resulted in an unseasonably moist and unstable airmass across the southern Great Plains. During the afternoon and evening, several severe thunderstorms, including supercells, produced large hail, damaging winds, and at least two brief, weak tornadoes over portions of West Texas and Southeast New Mexico.

Began near Oil Center (32.4500, -103.4100).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EFU Lea County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1218642. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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