New Mexico, 2002

High Wind in New Mexico, March 8, 2002

March 8, 2002 · NWS ABQ · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

Gusty winds swept over northern and central New Mexico causing widespread blowing dust and whipping small fires into uncontrollable blazes. Six people died and 17 others were injured in a chain reaction crash involving 14 cars, several tractor trailers and a school bus on Interstate 40 near Cuervo in Guadalupe County where winds carried smoke from an accidental fire northward over the highway.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
2
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
6

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.

Gusty winds swept over northern and central New Mexico causing widespread blowing dust and whipping small fires into uncontrollable blazes. Six people died and 17 others were injured in a chain reaction crash involving 14 cars, several tractor trailers and a school bus on Interstate 40 near Cuervo in Guadalupe County where winds carried smoke from an accidental fire northward over the highway. Visibility was estimated at near zero for about a quarter mile along the highway during the peak of the fire. Several other motorists were injured in McKinley county when their recreational vehicle was blown off the road.

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 Mar 8, 1:00 PM MST, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 8, 1:00 PM MST, 1 hour before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
100 PM MST FRI MAR 8 2002

UPDATED ZONES TO EXPAND WIND ADV TO WEST AND NC. UNFORTUNATELY HIGH
WIND CRITERIA HAVE ALREADY BEEN MET. WIND HAS ALREADY PEAKED IN THE
WEST AND IS AT ITS PEAK IN THE EAST. THUS SEE NO POINT IN UPGRADING
TO HIGH WIND WARNING. JWS

.ABQ...WIND ADVISORY THIS AFTN NMZ001>004-008-009-014-015
...WIND ADVISORY THRU EARLY EVENING NMZ005>007-010>013-016>021-026

Event by event

6 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Northeast Highlands

When
March 8, 2:00 PM MST to 7:00 PM MST
Where
Northeast Highlands forecast zone
Measured
50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

High Wind, Capitan/Northern Sacramento Mountains

When
March 8, 2:00 PM MST to 7:00 PM MST
Where
Capitan/Northern Sacramento Mountains forecast zone
Measured
50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

High Wind, Central High Plains/Estancia Valley County

When
March 8, 2:00 PM MST to 7:00 PM MST
Where
Central High Plains/Estancia Valley County forecast zone
Measured
48 kt (55 mph)
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

High Wind, Conchas Lake/Guadalupe

When
March 8, 2:00 PM MST to 7:00 PM MST
Where
Conchas Lake/Guadalupe forecast zone
Measured
45 kt (52 mph)
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

High Wind, Lincoln County High Plains/Hondo Valley

When
March 8, 2:00 PM MST to 7:00 PM MST
Where
Lincoln County High Plains/Hondo Valley forecast zone
Measured
52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

High Wind, Westcentral Mountains

When
March 8, 2:00 PM MST to 7:00 PM MST
Where
Westcentral Mountains forecast zone
Measured
50 kt (58 mph)
Injuries
2 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

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 New Mexico in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, March 2002

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: 5280727, 5280728, 5280729, 5280730, 5280731, 5280732.