High Wind in New Mexico, January 26, 1999

Name: High Wind in New Mexico, January 26, 1999
Start: 1999-01-26T11:30
End: 1999-01-26T12:50
Location: New Mexico

January 26, 1999 · NWS ABQ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $200,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Capitan/Northern Sacramento Mountains / Sc Lincoln

When: January 26, 11:30 AM MST to 12:50 PM MST
Where: Capitan/Northern Sacramento Mountains / Sc Lincoln forecast zone
Measured: 51 kt (59 mph)
Property damage: $200,000
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA

A rare lee-side downslope high wind event developed on the east side of Sierra Blanca Peak (elev. 12,000 ft) as an upper level trough moved rapidly over the region. The tops of several hundred pine trees were snapped off at Benito Lake as winds gusted briefly to an estimated 75-80 mph. Tree tops also fell on cars and several homes and business on the north side of Ruidoso. Sierra Blanca Airport recorded a peak gust of only 60 mph with gusty winds lasting less than one hour.

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in New Mexico in 1999 Every state in 1999 This day in weather history Warnings in New Mexico, January 1999

Sources

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: 5679283.