As a deep upper level low approached the area from southern California, Hurricane Norbert moved northeastward across the Eastern Pacific near the Baja Peninsula. This provided sufficient moisture across the region.
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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.
As a deep upper level low approached the area from southern California, Hurricane Norbert moved northeastward across the Eastern Pacific near the Baja Peninsula. This provided sufficient moisture across the region. As low level flow increased, further moistening of the boundary layer resulted. The combination of abundant moisture, increasing deep layer shear and increasing large scale lift ahead of approaching shortwave troughs rounding the base of the low resulted in showers and some severe thunderstorm activity over southeastern New Mexico. Severe coverage was limited due to the existing cloud cover throughout the day, which only resulted in small areas of decent instability.
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 Oct 11, 7:09 PM MST, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier.
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</html>The Holloman AFB radar (KHDX), 160 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:56 UTC.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Penny sized hail was reported by a trained spotter on the western side of Artesia.
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, October 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 137758.