New Mexico, 2001

Tornado and Hail in New Mexico, May 30, 2001

May 30, 2001 · NWS ABQ · 10 events in 4 counties and zones

Thunderstorms formed along the east slope of the Sangre de Cristo in western Colfax and Mora Counties and then intensified into low precipitating supercells that yielded copious amounts of small hail across Harding and Union Counties, and finally golfball to baseball hail, plus funnel clouds and at least one brief gustnado or ground based spin-up over Quay County. Snow plows were called out near…

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
10

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS ABQ wrote it up.

Thunderstorms formed along the east slope of the Sangre de Cristo in western Colfax and Mora Counties and then intensified into low precipitating supercells that yielded copious amounts of small hail across Harding and Union Counties, and finally golfball to baseball hail, plus funnel clouds and at least one brief gustnado or ground based spin-up over Quay County. Snow plows were called out near Grenville in Union County to remove dime size hail which clogged Highway 64/87 with 5-8 inches of ice. The heavier hail stayed mainly over open rangeland of Quay County, but later pounded storm chase vehicles along I-40 near the border with Texas. Storms began to bow as the passed into Curry County. Gusts of 60 to 80 mph just missed the main sections of Clovis, but scattered reports of downed trees and power lines were received from the city.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Albuquerque, NM wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 30, 2:30 AM MST, 10 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 30, 2:30 AM MST, 10 hours 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
330 AM MDT WED MAY 30 2001

OUTFLOW BOUNDARY FROM CONVECTION OVER CO/KS EARLIER EVENING HAS
ALREADY MADE ITS WAY DOWN THE EASTERN PLAINS. FRONT STILL SCHEDULED
TO DROP THROUGH EASTERN PLAINS LATER TODAY AND GUIDANCE HAS
FLIP-FLOPPED ON HIGHS FOR NE CORNER FROM 24HRS AGO. CONTINUING NW
FLOW ALOFT WILL BRING AN OCCASIONAL SHORTWAVE ACROSS NE NM IN THE
SHORT TERM...ONE OF WHICH APPARENT ON SATELLITE IMAGERY ATTM OVER
GREAT BASIN.  THEREFORE SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE TSTMS LATER TODAY PER
SPC OUTLOOK AND WILL ISSUE SPS. STILL LOOKS AS IF AN EAST WIND
POSSIBLE LATE IN THE DAY INTO UPPER RIO GRANDE VALLEY...THEN THIS
EVENING INTO ABQ METRO AREA. MODELS STILL SUGGEST ENOUGH INSTAB AND
MOISTURE FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR TSTMS THURS EAST OF CONTDVD AS IN
GOING FORECAST. ANOTHER FRONT NOTED ON THIS EVENINGS AVN/MRF FOR
FRIDAY THEREFORE WILL HANG ONTO SLIGHT CHANCE POPS EAST SIDE THAT
DAY. THIS SURGE MAY ALSO MAKE IT WEST OF MOUNTAINS BUT WITH UPPER
RIDGE AXIS OVERHEAD WON/T CHANGE SAT FORECAST. SUNDAY CONTINUES TO
LOOK BREEZY TO WINDY AS ZONAL FLOW TAKES OVER AND SURFACE LEE
TROUGHING PREVAILS. ANOTHER FRONT MAY ENTER THE NE MON.

ABQ AB 089/059 087/058 090 48-11
SAF AB 085/050 081/048 085 48-11
TCC BB 080/054 078/055 083 48121

.ABQ...NONE.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 funnel cloud, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Funnel Cloud, Harding

When
May 30, 12:45 PM MST
Where
Harding County, 3 mi N of Mills
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
35.858, -103.820 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Tornado, Quay

When
May 30, 2:25 PM MST
Where
Quay County, Ragland
Rating
F0
Path length
0.1 mi
Path width
40 yd
Reported by
STORM CHASER
Coordinates
34.817, -103.733

Hail, Harding

When
May 30, 2:31 PM MST
Where
Harding County, 10 mi E of Mosquero
Measured
2.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
35.767, -103.783

Hail, Quay

When
May 30, 3:30 PM MST
Where
Quay County, Quay
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
34.933, -103.750

Hail, Union

When
May 30, 3:30 PM MST to 3:55 PM MST
Where
Union County, Grenville
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
STORM CHASER
Coordinates
36.600, -103.600

Hail, Quay

When
May 30, 3:43 PM MST
Where
Quay County, 7 mi W of Nara Visa
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
35.600, -103.217

Thunderstorm Wind, Curry

When
May 30, 5:30 PM MST
Where
Curry County, Texico
Measured
70 kt (81 mph)
Reported by
BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates
34.383, -103.050

Thunderstorm Wind, Curry

When
May 30, 5:35 PM MST
Where
Curry County, Clovis Arpt
Measured
59 kt (68 mph)
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
34.433, -103.083

Hail, Quay

When
May 30, 6:05 PM MST
Where
Quay County, 1 mi NW of Glenrio
Measured
2.75 in hail
Reported by
STORM CHASER
Coordinates
34.200, -103.050

Hail, Quay

When
May 30, 6:13 PM MST
Where
Quay County, 10 mi E of Tucumcari
Measured
1.5 in hail
Reported by
STORM CHASER
Coordinates
35.167, -103.550

What these are

Funnel Cloud
A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in New Mexico in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for New Mexico, 2001Warnings in New Mexico, May 2001

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: 5244410, 5244411, 5244404, 5244405, 5244409, 5244406, 5244407, 5244408, 5244413, 5244412.