High Wind in New Mexico, May 1, 1999

Name: High Wind in New Mexico, May 1, 1999
Start: 1999-05-01T12:30
End: 1999-05-01T12:30
Location: New Mexico

May 1, 1999 · NWS ABQ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

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

The toll

Deaths: 7
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
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, Guadalupe Mountains of Chaves County / X Sw Chaves

When: May 1, 12:30 PM MST
Where: Guadalupe Mountains of Chaves County / X Sw Chaves forecast zone
Measured: 48 kt (55 mph)
Deaths: 7 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

High winds were blamed in a fatal travel trailer-church bus accident in southwest Chaves County that claimed 7 lives. State Police concluded that winds of 50-55 mph swept a truck pulling a travel trailer into the opposing lane and slicing into an on-coming bus filled with teenagers returning from a church retreat. One adult and 6 teenage girls died at the scene with other serious injuries reported.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
High Wind, Guadalupe Mountains of Chaves County / X Sw Chaves	1999-05-01	60	Male	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct
High Wind, Guadalupe Mountains of Chaves County / X Sw Chaves	1999-05-01	15	Female	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct
High Wind, Guadalupe Mountains of Chaves County / X Sw Chaves	1999-05-01	15	Female	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct
High Wind, Guadalupe Mountains of Chaves County / X Sw Chaves	1999-05-01	14	Female	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct
High Wind, Guadalupe Mountains of Chaves County / X Sw Chaves	1999-05-01	13	Female	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct
High Wind, Guadalupe Mountains of Chaves County / X Sw Chaves	1999-05-01	16	Female	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct
High Wind, Guadalupe Mountains of Chaves County / X Sw Chaves	1999-05-01	13	Female	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct

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, May 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: 5697130.