Funnel Cloud in New Mexico, May 9, 2001

Name: Funnel Cloud in New Mexico, May 9, 2001
Start: 2001-05-09T10:50
End: 2001-05-09T10:50
Location: New Mexico

May 9, 2001 · NWS ABQ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Spotter reported funnel clouds with small storms along the New Mexico-Colorado border.

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: 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.

What happened

The episode as NWS ABQ wrote it up.

Spotter reported funnel clouds with small storms along the New Mexico-Colorado border.

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 9, 2:15 AM MST, 8 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 9, 2:15 AM MST, 8 hours 35 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
315 AM MDT WED MAY 9 2001

NO CHANGES MADE TO PREVIOUS PACKAGE. THE FORECAST IS PEPPERED WITH
SLIGHT CHANCE POPS THROUGH SUNDAY. THEN DRY...WARM AND BREEZY TO
WINDY ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY.

ISOLATED TO SCATTERED CONVECTION FORECAST EAST OF THE CONTINENTAL
DIVIDE THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING ...WITH LITTLE TO NO PRECIPITATION
REACHING THE GROUND. HIGH TEMPS WILL BE 3-9 DEGREES WARMER TODAY...SO
EXPECT MORE LIGHTNING THAN YESTERDAY...WITH HIGHER CAPES AND SLIGHTLY
STEEPER LAPSE RATES. WILL CONTINUE WITH EVEN WARMER TEMPS ON
THURSDAY...BUT THE FOCUS FOR CONVECTION WILL BE ALONG A DRYLINE IN
THE EASTCENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PLAINS.

A WEAK COLD FRONT IS FORECAST TO PUSH INTO THE NORTHEAST FRIDAY AND
CREEP SOUTH ACROSS THE EASTERN PLAINS FRIDAY NIGHT. WILL PERSIST WITH
A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR TSTMS WITH THE FRONT FRIDAY IN THE NORTHEAST.
WILL CONTINUE PREVIOUS THINKING OF INCREASED CLOUDS AND CHANCE POPS
IN THE EAST ON SATURDAY WITH AN EASTERLY LOW LEVEL UPSLOPE FLOW AND
THE FRONT HANGING TOUGH.

HIGHEST TEMPS THIS CYCLE LOOK TO BE ON FRIDAY IN ADVANCE OF THE FRONT
IN THE SOUTHEAST PLAINS...WHERE HIGHS IN THE MID 90S ARE POSSIBLE. CA

ABQ BU 84/53 89/55 89 50110
SAF BU 79/48 83/50 83 50110
TCC BB 82/58 90/58 91 50111

.ABQ...NONE.

The radar

The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 210 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:45 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.

Funnel Cloud, Colfax

When: May 9, 10:50 AM MST
Where: Colfax County, 10 mi NW of Raton
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 36.606, -104.647 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Funnel Cloud: A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in New Mexico in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5244415.