Name: High Wind in Texas, April 6, 2001
Start: 2001-04-06T12:30
End: 2001-04-06T15:00
Location: Texas

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $25,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 EPZ wrote it up.

A strong Pacific cold front swept across far west Texas during the afternoon, bringing wind gusts from 65 to 75 mph. Trees were blown over, shingles blown from roofs, and an 18 wheeler was overturned in El Paso.

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 El Paso, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 6, 1:30 AM MST, 11 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 6, 1:30 AM MST, 11 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM
230 AM MDT FRI APR 6 2001

SYNOPSIS...
A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH NEW MEXICO...GENERATING
STRONG WINDS AND A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS
ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA TODAY. WINDS WILL BE STRONGEST JUST AHEAD
OF AN ASSOCIATED SURFACE COLD FRONT THAT WILL SWEEP THROUGH THE
REGION AROUND MID DAY.  WINDS WILL DIMINISH LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING. SOUTHWEST FLOW AND WARMER TEMPERATURES WILL RETURN ON
SATURDAY AND CONTINUE INTO NEXT WEEK.

DISCUSSION...
LATEST MODEL RUNS HAVE SLOWED THE PROGRESS OF THE UPPER LOW BY ABOUT
SIX HOURS FROM THE PREVIOUS NIGHT'S RUN.  THE LOW WILL ENTER
SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO THIS MORNING AND TRACK NORTHEAST ACROSS THE
STATE THIS AFTERNOON.  THE AMOUNT OF MOISTURE IN THE PLUME AHEAD OF
THE SYSTEM HAS DIMINISHED SOME AND THE TRACK OF THE SYSTEM GIVES THE
BEST CHANCE OF PRECIP TO THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST
AREA...ESPECIALLY THE SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS. WITH THE SLOWER PROGRESS
OF THE SYSTEM...PRECIP CHANCES WILL CONTINUE TILL MID DAY.  THE COLD
POCKET ASSOCIATED WITH THE SYSTEM WILL GENERATE STEEP LAPSE RATES TO
ALLOW A FEW THUNDERSTORMS TO FORM...MAINLY OVER THE SOUTHWEST
MOUNTAINS. FREEZING LEVELS WILL DROP TO BETWEEN 6500 AND 7000 FEET
OVER THE SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS THIS MORNING WITH RAIN CHANGING TO SNOW
EARLY THIS MORNING. WILL ISSUE A SNOW ADVISORY FOR NM ZONE 22 FOR
POTENTIAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES AT THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS
THIS MORNING. THE SOUTHERN SACRAMENTO MOUNTAINS WILL SEE SOME SNOW
SHOWERS BUT ONLY ABOVE 8000 FEET AND NOT WITH ANY SIGNIFICANT
ACCUMULATIONS.

THE MAIN AFFECT FROM THIS SYSTEM WILL BE THE WINDS. SURFACE WINDS
WILL INCREASE QUICKLY THIS MORNING AS STRONG WINDS ALOFT MIX DOWN TO
THE SURFACE. ADDITIONALLY...AS A SURFACE LOW DEEPENS IN EASTERN
COLORADO...THE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL TIGHTEN CONSIDERABLY
OVER THE STATE. WINDS WILL BE AT WIND ADVISORY CRITERIA MOST OF THE
DAY BUT WILL BE STRONGEST JUST AHEAD OF THE UPPER LOW'S ASSOCIATED
COLD FRONT THAT WILL SWEEP ACROSS THE AREA AROUND MID DAY TODAY.  A
TIGHT SURFACE GRADIENT WILL KEEP WINDS STRONG AFTER FRONTAL PASSAGE
UNTIL EARLY THIS EVENING WHEN SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE
AREA AND THE GRADIENT RELAXES.

FOR SATURDAY AND BEYOND...THE SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL REESTABLISH ITSELF
ON SATURDAY WITH A WARM UP IN TEMPERATURES AND LIGHT AFTERNOON
BREEZES. A WEAK SHORT WAVE WILL PASS BY TO THE NORTH ON SUNDAY FOR
BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS...FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER ONE ON TUESDAY FOR
WINDY CONDITIONS.  RAIN CHANCES REMAIN SLIM TO NONE DURING THE
PERIOD. TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE SEASONAL
AVERAGES.

EL PASO               NU  69/ 40/ 75/ 48/ 78  20000
LAS CRUCES            NU  67/ 34/ 73/ 40/ 76  20000
ALAMOGORDO            NU  67/ 34/ 73/ 43/ 76  20000
CLOUDCROFT            NU  47/ 20/ 53/ 28/ 56  30000
TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES NU  68/ 34/ 74/ 42/ 77  20000
SILVER CITY           NU  59/ 28/ 65/ 36/ 68  50000
DEMING                NU  66/ 32/ 72/ 39/ 75  20000
LORDSBURG             NU  69/ 32/ 75/ 39/ 78  20000
SIERRA BLANCA   k      NU  66/ 38/ 72/ 46/ 75  20000

.ELP...WND ADVY TDY...TX ZNS 55 56

       WND ADVY TDY...NM ZNS 22 23 24 25 30 31 32

       SNW ADVY THIS MRNG...NM ZN 22

04

N

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, El Paso

When: April 6, 12:30 PM MST to 2:30 PM MST
Where: El Paso forecast zone
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

High Wind, Hudspeth

When: April 6, 1:00 PM MST to 3:00 PM MST
Where: Hudspeth forecast zone
Measured: 65 kt (75 mph)
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

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

More

Every storm in Texas in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, April 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: 5242973, 5242974.