An unseasonably deep low pressure system moved across the desert southwest and brought strong gusty winds to far west Texas.
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 EPZ wrote it up.
An unseasonably deep low pressure system moved across the desert southwest and brought strong gusty winds to far west Texas.
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 May 22, 1:43 PM MST, 1 hour 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM
243 PM MDT THU MAY 22 2008
.SYNOPSIS...
WINDY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THIS AFTERNOON WITH BLOWING DUST
CAUSING LOW VISIBILITIES IN SOME LOCATIONS. THERE IS A SLIGHT
CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE SOUTHWESTERN PORTIONS
OF NEW MEXICO OVERNIGHT INTO TOMORROW. WINDS WILL DECREASE AS WE
HEAD INTO THE WEEKEND WITH THE WEATHER BECOMING QUITE CALM NEXT
WEEK.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
BIG LOW SITTING OVER NEVADA AND UTAH TAPPING INTO SOME BAJA
MOISTURE THIS AFTERNOON. UPDATED THE FORECAST THIS MORNING AS THIS
MOISTURE AFFECTED THE TEMPERATURES AND EVEN PRODUCED A FEW SUPER
LIGHT SHOWERS. THIS LOW WILL CONTINUE TO SPIN OVER THE GREAT BASIN
REGION TONIGHT BEFORE STARTING A SLOW WESTWARD TRACK. THE MOISTURE
SHOVED INTO THE REGION TODAY WILL KEEP A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE SOUTHWESTERN CORNER OF NEW MEXICO -
INCLUDING THE GILA WILDERNESS - THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS
TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY.
SATURDAY THE LOW MOVES OFF THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST AND THE
REGION WILL FALL UNDER SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW. THIS FLOW WILL BRING
WARMER...DRIER CONDITIONS TO THE BORDERLAND. MODELS ARE SLIDING A
HIGH OVER TEXAS TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY - BRINGING SOME GULF OF
MEXICO MOISTURE WITH IT. WILL KEEP THE TOKEN POPS IN THE FORECAST
AS WE WAIT TO SEE HOW THIS PROGRESSES IN SUBSEQUENT MODEL RUNS.
&&
.AVIATION...VALID 23/00Z-24/00Z...
GENERALLY VFR CONDITIONS THROUGH THE PERIOD. ISOLD MVFR IN SHOWERS
WEST OF DEMING AND IN THE GILA WILDERNESS TONIGHT AND FRIDAY.
STRONG SURFACE WINDS WILL CAUSE LOW LEVEL MECHANICAL TURBULENCE THIS
EVENING...MAINLY NEAR AND DOWN WIND OF AREA MOUNTAINS. THE STRONG
WINDS WILL ALSO CREATE AREAS OF LOWER VISIBILITY IN BLOWING DUST.
VISIBILITY MAY DROP INTO THE MVFR CATEGORY AND COULD BRIEFLY DIP
INTO IFR.
&&
.FIRE WEATHER...
STRONG WINDS WILL CONTINUE THIS EVENING...WHILE FIRE DANGER RATINGS
REMAIN VERY HIGH TO EXTREME. THE STRONG WINDS AND FIRE DANGER
RATINGS...COMBINED WITH VERY DRY AIR...WILL CAUSE CRITICAL FIRE
WEATHER CONDITIONS THIS EVENING OVER FAR WEST TEXAS...EASTERN SIERRA
COUNTY...AND LOWER ELEVATIONS OF OTERO COUNTY. HOWEVER...MOIST AIR
FLOWING OUT OF SONORA IS SPREADING FROM THE BOOTHEEL ACROSS THE
CONTINENTAL DIVIDE AND INTO THE LOWER DESERTS OF SOUTHWESTERN NEW
MEXICO. THIS HIGHER DEW POINT AIR WILL KEEP RELATIVE HUMIDITY ABOVE
THE CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER THRESHOLD OF 15 PERCENT OVER MOST OF THE
AREA...AND MAY ALLOW ISOLATED SHOWERS WEST OF THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY
AND IN THE SACRAMENTO MOUNTAINS TONIGHT AND FRIDAY. DRY AND WARMER
WITH LESS WIND THROUGH THE WEEKEND.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
EL PASO 62 82 60 86 61 / 0 0 0 0 0
SIERRA BLANCA TX 56 84 54 85 55 / 0 0 0 0 10
LAS CRUCES 58 82 55 85 58 / 10 10 0 0 0
ALAMOGORDO 59 82 57 85 58 / 0 10 0 0 10
CLOUDCROFT 36 56 34 61 37 / 0 10 10 0 10
TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES 56 81 53 84 56 / 10 10 10 0 0
SILVER CITY 47 73 45 77 48 / 10 20 10 0 0
DEMING 57 82 54 85 58 / 10 10 10 0 0
LORDSBURG 57 81 55 84 58 / 10 10 10 0 0
&&
.EPZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NM...HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 8 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR NMZ022-030-031.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR NMZ023>025-032.
RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 7 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR NMZ112.
TX...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR TXZ055-056.
RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 7 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR TXZ055-056.
&&
23/21HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM 603 AM MDT THU MAY 22 2008 NMZ022>025-030>032-TXZ055-056-231215- SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS/LOWER GILA REGION-SIERRA COUNTY LAKES REGION- TULAROSA BASIN/SOUTHERN DESERT-SOUTHERN SACRAMENTO MOUNTAINS- SOUTHWEST DESERT/BOOTHEEL-SOUTHWEST DESERT/MIMBRES BASIN- SOUTHERN DESERT-EL PASO-HUDSPETH- 603 AM MDT THU MAY 22 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NEW MEXICO...SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO AND SOUTHWEST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ANOTHER VERY WINDY DAY TODAY. WINDS OUT WEST WILL TOP OUT NEAR 40 MPH WITH GUSTS 60 MPH. THE EASTERN PART OF THE AREA WILL SEE WINDS NEAR 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH. MOTORISTS CAN EXPECT AREAS OF BLOWING DUST THAT WILL REDUCE VISIBILITIES AND MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT ESPECIALLY FOR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO SIGNIFICANT WEATHER EXPECTED. WINDS ON FRIDAY WILL BE WINDY...BUT SHOULD STAY BELOW ADVISORY LEVELS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A peak wind gust of 76 mph was measured in northeast El Paso. At least two car windshields were damaged and one roof was blown off a house.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, May 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: 105998.