Southwest winds topped 60 mph across localized areas of the south central mountains very late on the 27th. These strong winds preceded a strong cold front that blasted through the area.
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 ABQ wrote it up.
Southwest winds topped 60 mph across localized areas of the south central mountains very late on the 27th. These strong winds preceded a strong cold front that blasted through the area.
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 Oct 27, 8:33 PM MST, 1 hour 22 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 933 PM MDT TUE OCT 27 2009 .UPDATE... HAVE CANCELLED THE WIND ADVISORY FOR THE WESTERN ZONES... HOWEVER...COULD BRIEFLY REACH CRITERIA ALONG THE COLD FRONT AS IT SWEEPS THROUGH. ALSO EXPANDED THE WIND ADVISORY ACROSS ZONES 539 AND 540. AT LEAST 60KT OF 700 MB FLOW IS PROGGED BY BOTH THE NAM AND THE GFS TO COME ACROSS THE SOUTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 06Z AND 12Z. DUNKEN RAWS IS ALREADY BLOWING STRONGER THAN KSRR...AND BOTH SHOULD CONTINUE TO INCREASE OVERNIGHT. HAVE ADJUSTED WIND GRIDS TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS. BACKED OFF ON POPS THROUGH MIDNIGHT. DEWPOINTS STILL IN THE SINGLE DIGITS AND TEENS...SO WILL TAKE A LITTLE BIT FOR TOP DOWN MOISTENING TO OCCUR. HOWEVER...ECHOES INCREASING OVER ARIZONA...THEREFORE... RAISED POPS AFTER MIDNIGHT GENERALLY ALONG AND BEHIND THE EXPECTED FRONTAL POSITION. BETTER SNOW CHANCES FOR THE SANGRES APPEAR TO BE AS UPPER LOW NEARS. THUS...WINTER WX HIGHLIGHTS STILL LOOK ON TRACK...AND WILL NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES ATTM. ZONE UPDATES OUT SHORTLY. 34 && .PREV DISCUSSION...300 PM MDT TUE OCT 27 2009... LOOKING MORE AND MORE AS IF THIS STORM SYSTEM WILL BE MAINLY A WEST SLOPE EVENT. LOW LEVEL EASTERLY FLOW APPEARS TO BE LARGELY ABSENT...EXCEPT FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS OVER NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO THURSDAY MORNING. FOR THIS REASON...AND THE LATER TIMING OF PREDICTED ONSET OF PRECIPITATION...WILL DROP THE WINTER STORM WATCH FOR ZONES 515 AND 527. CONVERTING THE REMAINDER OF THE WATCH TO WINTER STORM WARNING...ALTHOUGH NAM IS SURPRISINGLY LOW IN REGARDS TO IT/S SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...AND GFS SEEMS ON THE LOW SIDE AS WELL. AS THE UPPER LOW IS CENTERED JUST WEST OF THE FOUR CORNERS AND THE SURFACE FRONT TRACKS INTO NEW MEXICO AROUND MIDNIGHT...THINK SOME OF OUR NORTHWEST ZONES COULD ACCUMULATE SOME ADVISORY AMOUNTS OF SNOW. THEREFORE WILL ISSUE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR ZONES 501...502 AND 504 STARTING AT MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. SOME DIFFERENCES IN GFS/NAM IN REGARDS TO AXIS OF STRONGEST MOUNTAINTOP WINDS LATER TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. GFS SUGGESTS SOME OF THE STRONGER WINDS WILL BE ALIGNED NORTHWARD ALONG THE EAST SLOPES OF THE CENTRAL MOUNTAIN CHAIN TOWARDS THE CLINES CORNERS REGION...AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TIL MIDMORNING WEDNESDAY. WILL ADD ZONE 525 TO THE WIND ADVISORY...BUT LATER SHIFTS MAY NEED TO EXPAND TO THOSE ZONES IMMEDIATELY TO THE NORTH AND EAST OF THE CURRENT WIND ADVISORY AREA. FOR MUCH OF THE EASTERN PLAINS...WEDNESDAY WILL BE WINDY WITH MOST LOCALES SEEING A FINAL DAY OF RELATIVE WARMTH BEFORE TEMPERATURES PLUNGE THURSDAY INTO THE 40S AND 50S. THERE IS SOME POTENTIAL FOR WIND SPEEDS APPROACHING ADVISORY CRITERIA EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WEDNESDAY...BUT NOT CONSIDERING EXPANDING THE CURRENT WIND ADVISORY INTO THIS REGION AT THIS TIME. CONTINUED THE MENTION OF THUNDER IN SOME OF THE EASTERN ZONES...ALTHOUGH SPC OUTLOOK FOCUS SEEMS TO BE TO THE EAST OF NEW MEXICO. THE UPPER TROUGH AXIS SLIDES EAST OF NEW MEXICO LATE FRIDAY. NORTHWEST WINDS ALOFT PREVAIL THROUGH THE UPCOMING WEEKEND...ALLOWING FOR A SLOW WARMUP. .AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED ALL AREAS THROUGH AT LEAST 08Z. SCT LIGHT PRECIPITATION TO MOVE INTO THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF THE STATE SOMETIME BETWEEN 04 AND 08Z AND EXPAND EASTWARD INTO THE MORNING HOURS OF WEDNESDAY. THEREAFTER RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN WILL RESULT IN MVFR TO VERY LOCALIZED IFR CONDITIONS AND MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS ACROSS AREAS NEAR AND NORTH OF A LINE FROM ROUGHLY QUEMADO TO MOUNT TAYLOR TO KLVS. ELSEWHERE VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED THROUGH THE DAY WEDNESDAY. ALSO EXPECT STRONG WINDS...ESPECIALLY OVER THE HIGHER RIDGES AND BELOW AND THROUGH GAPS. NEXT AVIATION DISCUSSION SCHEDULED FOR 09Z. .FIRE WEATHER...AS OF THIS WRITING RED FLAG CRITERIA ONLY OCCURRING ACROSS SMALL PORTIONS OF ZONES 105 AND 109. WILL CONTINUE THOSE FOR NOW ACROSS THAT AREA THROUGH THE CURRENT EXPIRATION TIME...BUT WILL NOT COVERAGE AS LARGE AN EXPANSE OF THAT AREA AS PREVIOUSLY EXPECTED. STILL EXPECT GREATEST IMPACT TO BE WESTERN PORTIONS OF ZONES 105 AND 109 WHERE CRITERIA WILL BE MET AND NFDRS FORECAST FIRE DANGER IS VERY HIGH. MIN RH WILL BE BELOW 15 PERCENT ACROSS MUCH OF THE WEST. WINDS ALSO NEARING OR BRIEFLY EXCEEDING CRITICAL THRESHOLDS IN PORTIONS OF THE EASTERN PLAINS...IN THE GENERAL AREA ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 40 AROUND SANTA ROSA TO THE NORTHEAST HIGHLANDS. OBSERVED FIRE DANGER IS LOWER AND WETTING IN THAT AREA HAS BEEN RECENT ENOUGH TO HELP PRECLUDE ANY WARNING. PRECIPITATION CHANCES APPEAR GREATEST ACROSS THE WEST AND NORTH LATE TONIGHT INTO THU...WITH SIGNIFICANT SNOW STILL POSSIBLE ACROSS THE HIGHER NORTHERN MOUNTAINS. BREEZY TO WINDY SOUTHWEST WINDS CONTINUE ON WEDNESDAY...BUT WITH ISOLATED TO LOCALLY MORE NUMEROUS SNOW SHOWERS AND SIGNIFICANT COOLING...MINIMUM RH SHOULD REMAIN ABOVE 15 PERCENT. WRAP AROUND PRECIPITATION WILL PROVIDE A FOCUS OF PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS ON THURSDAY. OTHERWISE...THE COOLING TREND CONTINUES THURSDAY WITH SOME SLOW WARMING THEREAFTER. && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 3 PM MDT WEDNESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES... NMZ524>526-539-540. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 6 AM MDT THURSDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES...NMZ503-510>514-516. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 6 AM MDT THURSDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES...NMZ501-502-504. && 34
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 712 PM MDT TUE OCT 27 2009 NMZ501>540-281200- NORTHWEST PLATEAU-CHUSKA MOUNTAINS-FAR NORTHWEST HIGHLANDS- NORTHWEST HIGHLANDS-WEST CENTRAL PLATEAU-WEST CENTRAL MOUNTAINS- WEST CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS- SAN FRANCISCO RIVER VALLEY-SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-JEMEZ MOUNTAINS- WEST SLOPES SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS- NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 9500 FEET/RED RIVER- SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 9500 FEET- EAST SLOPES SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS-UPPER RIO GRANDE VALLEY- LOWER CHAMA RIVER VALLEY-SANTA FE METRO AREA-ALBUQUERQUE METRO AREA- LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY-SANDIA/MANZANO MOUNTAINS-ESTANCIA VALLEY- CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-SOUTH CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-UPPER TULAROSA VALLEY- SOUTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS-RATON RIDGE/JOHNSON MESA- FAR NORTHEAST HIGHLANDS-NORTHEAST HIGHLANDS-UNION COUNTY- HARDING COUNTY-EASTERN SAN MIGUEL COUNTY-GUADALUPE COUNTY- QUAY COUNTY-CURRY COUNTY-ROOSEVELT COUNTY-DE BACA COUNTY- CHAVES COUNTY PLAINS-EASTERN LINCOLN COUNTY-SOUTHWEST CHAVES COUNTY- 712 PM MDT TUE OCT 27 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH AND CENTRAL NEW MEXICO. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT WEST TO SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH OCCASIONAL GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS THROUGH THE EVENING. SIMILAR WIND SPEEDS AND GUSTS ARE LIKELY THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS ACROSS THE SOUTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS. WIND ADVISORIES REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR BOTH OF THESE AREAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING THROUGH EARLY THURSDAY MORNING ACROSS THE SAN JUAN...JEMEZ AND SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS. THE WEST SLOPES AND LOCATIONS ABOVE 9000 FEET WILL BE THE FAVORED AREAS. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 4 TO 8 INCHES ARE LIKELY...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS UP TO ONE FOOT ARE POSSIBLE. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 6 INCHES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE ACROSS THE NORTHWEST PLATEAU...NORTHWEST HIGHLANDS...AND THE CHUSKA MOUNTAINS. PLEASE SEE THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE FOR MORE DETAILS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS BY CONTACTING THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AT 1.888.386.7637. 34
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The AWOS at Sierra Blanca Regional Airport reached a peak wind gust of 67 mph at 1035 pm MST. However, wind gusts did exceed 60 mph between 955 and 1055 pm MST.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, October 2009
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: 195244, 195245.