Strong northeasterly winds funneled through the Guadalupe Pass behind a strong cold front. The winds were the result of a strong thermal/pressure gradient and persisted for nearly 12 hours.
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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.
The episode as NWS MAF wrote it up.
Strong northeasterly winds funneled through the Guadalupe Pass behind a strong cold front. The winds were the result of a strong thermal/pressure gradient and persisted for nearly 12 hours. Other locations near the Guadalupe Mountains, such as the Batdraw RAWS site, experienced very brief high wind criteria observations.
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 Midland/Odessa, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 20, 5:05 AM MST, 1 hour 55 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 605 AM CST THU NOV 20 2008 .DISCUSSION... SEE AVIATION DISCUSSION BELOW. && .AVIATION... THE LATEST SURFACE OBSERVATIONS SHOW THE COLD FRONT ACROSS THE SOUTH PLAINS ALONG A DENVER CITY LINE TO JAYTON LINE. THE COLD FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO PUSH SOUTH TODAY...WITH THE LATEST RUC13 MODEL HAVING A GOOD HANDLE ON THE POSITION OF THE FRONT. OVERALL...THE INHERITED SET OF TAFS HANDLES THE SITUATION WELL. WE STILL EXPECT A DECK OF STRATOCU TO MOVE SOUTH/DEVELOP THIS MORNING...WITH ALL BUT KFST EXPECTED TO SEE A TEMPORARY ROUND OF MVFR CIGS THIS MORNING. AVAILABLE MODEL DATA SUGGESTS THE MOISTURE MAY MIX/DECREASE AS IT MOVES SOUTH INTO THE TRANS PECOS REGION...INCLUDING KFST. FOR NOW...WILL CONTINUE A SCT DECK AT KFST...BUT HAVE OPTED TO REMOVE THE BKN LAYER. WE HAVE ALSO INCREASED WINDS SLIGHTLY AT AREA TERMINALS BASED ON THE LATEST RUC13 DATA. WINDS WILL DECREASE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM NORTH TO SOUTH AND WILL REMOVE MENTION OF GUSTS AT ALL SITES IN THE 23Z-02Z TIME FRAME AS THE SURFACE BASED INVERSION DEVELOPS. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 348 AM CST THU NOV 20 2008/ DISCUSSION... A STRONG POLAR COLD FRONT WILL ENTER THE PERMIAN BASIN AROUND SUNRISE THIS MORNING AND CONTINUE RAPIDLY SOUTHWARD TO SOUTH OF THE BIG BEND BY SUNSET. WINDY AND MARKEDLY COOLER CONDITIONS EXPECTED WITH THIS FRONTAL PASSAGE TODAY...WITH TEMPERATURES STEADILY DROPPING INTO THE 20S MOST AREAS OVERNIGHT DESPITE SOME LINGERING LOW CLOUD COVER. NORTHEAST WINDS WILL INCREASE IN THE MOUNTAIN PASSES LATE TODAY INTO TONIGHT BEHIND THIS COLD FRONT...HOWEVER WIND SPEEDS SHOULD REMAIN JUST BELOW HIGH WIND CRITERIA. COOL AND DRY NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT AND A STRONG EXPANSIVE AREA OF SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE WILL AID IN KEEPING THE COLD AIR MASS IN PLACE FRIDAY WITH AFTERNOON HIGHS STRUGGLING TO REACH THE 50S AND FRIDAY NIGHT LOWS ACROSS THE PERMIAN BASIN NEAR THE FREEZING MARK. TEMPERATURES WILL GRADUALLY WARM/MODERATE BACK TO SEASONAL NORMS OVER THE WEEKEND AS SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE SLIDES TO OUR EAST AND LEE-SIDE SURFACE TROUGHING REDEVELOPS ON SUNDAY. THE NEXT VIGOROUS NORTHERN STREAM UPPER TROUGH WILL DIVE DOWN FROM THE NORTHERN PLAINS INTO THE GREAT LAKES AREA ON SUNDAY... DRIVING ANOTHER DRY SURFACE COLD FRONT SOUTHWARD INTO THE PERMIAN BASIN SUNDAY NIGHT. TEMPERATURES ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE QUITE AS COOL NOR CONDITIONS NOT AS WINDY WITH THIS FRONTAL PASSAGE AS THE MAIN COLD SURGE WILL BE ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY WELL TO OUR EAST. && .MAF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NM...NONE. TX...NONE. && 06
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 343 AM CST THU NOV 20 2008 NMZ027>029-033-034-TXZ045>048-050>053-057>063-067>070-074-075- 079>082-258-210945- GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS OF EDDY COUNTY-EDDY COUNTY PLAINS- NORTHERN LEA COUNTY-CENTRAL LEA COUNTY-SOUTHERN LEA COUNTY-GAINES- DAWSON-BORDEN-SCURRY-ANDREWS-MARTIN-HOWARD-MITCHELL- VAN HORN AND HIGHWAY 54 CORRIDOR-REEVES COUNTY AND UPPER TRANS PECOS- LOVING-WINKLER-ECTOR-MIDLAND-GLASSCOCK-WARD-CRANE-UPTON-REAGAN- DAVIS/APACHE MOUNTAINS AREA-PECOS-PRESIDIO VALLEY-MARFA PLATEAU- BIG BEND AREA-TERRELL-GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS- 343 AM CST THU NOV 20 2008 /243 AM MST THU NOV 20 2008/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO...SOUTHWEST TEXAS AND WEST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. THIS PRODUCT...ALONG WITH OTHER WATCHES...WARNINGS...ADVISORIES... AND STATEMENTS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN MIDLAND CAN BE FOUND ON THE INTERNET AT /LOWER CASE/ HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/MIDLAND
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Batdraw RAWS site recorded sustained winds of 40 to 41 mph for two hours.
The KGDP ASOS site recorded sustained wind speeds of 40 mph or greater for 12 hours.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, November 2008
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: 142141, 142140.