A weak disturbance moving through west-southwest flow aloft provided lift for thunderstorms over Dona Ana County. Dew points in the 40s at the surface combined with temperatures in the 90s allowed for severe winds to be produced with these storms.
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The episode as NWS EPZ wrote it up.
A weak disturbance moving through west-southwest flow aloft provided lift for thunderstorms over Dona Ana County. Dew points in the 40s at the surface combined with temperatures in the 90s allowed for severe winds to be produced with these storms.
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 Aug 12, 1:38 PM MST, 3 hours 52 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM 238 PM MDT THU AUG 12 2010 .SYNOPSIS... HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES WELL ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND WILL LIMIT THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. THE BEST CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS IS IN THE GILA AND THE SACRAMENTO MOUNTAINS WITH ONLY ISOLATED STORMS ELSEWHERE. AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MAY CAUSE INCREASED THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY FRIDAY EVENING EAST OF THE RIO GRANDE. && .DISCUSSION... GFS/ECMWF SHOWING ELONGATED RIDGE STRETCHING FROM ARKANSAS TO NORTHERN SONORA THIS AFTERNOON...AND BOTH MODELS KEEP IT IN PLACE THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THIS WILL KEEP AFTERNOON TEMPS 4 TO 9 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH AT LEAST SUNDAY. THAT RIDGE WILL ALSO TEND TO SUPPRESS SHOWER AND T-STORM ACTIVITY...BUT WITH PW RANGING FROM 1.2 TO 1.5 INCHES THERE IS PLENTY OF MOISTURE AVAILABLE FOR AFTERNOON CONVECTION OVER AREA MOUNTAINS...FOLLOWED BY OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES THAT KICK OFF ISOLATED STORMS OVER THE DESERT LOWLANDS. BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK THAT HIGH PRESSURE IS PROGGED TO SHIFT FARTHER WEST AND AMPLIFY NORTHWARD INTO WESTERN CANADA. THIS WOULD TURN THE FLOW NORTHWEST AND ALLOW ANY TROUGHS COMING DOWN THE RIDGE TO DIG INTO THE EASTERN SIDE OF THE HIGH...POTENTIALLY TRIGGERING SOME STRONGER STORMS OVER THE AREA THE SECOND HALF OF NEXT WEEK. && .AVIATION...VALID 13/00Z-14/00Z... VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL...WITH THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN. A FEW STORMS WITH BASES ABOVE 7KFT AGL MAY MOVE INTO THE LOWLANDS THIS EVENING...MAINLY EAST OF A TCS-DMN LINE... WHERE BETTER LOW LEVEL MOISTURE EXISTS IN THE BOUNDARY LAYER. A GUSTY OUTFLOW OR DYING TSTM CANNOT BE OUTRULED FARTHER WEST. SURFACE/LOW LEVEL TROUGH WILL MOVE EAST TO THE RIO GRANDE FRIDAY... WITH DRIER AIR FURTHER SUPRESSING LOWLAND TSTM ACTIVITY WEST OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS 30-40 KNOTS POSSIBLE TODAY AND FRIDAY GIVEN 40-DEGREE T/TD SPREADS. && .FIRE WEATHER... TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN 5-10 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL GOING INTO THE WEEKEND. AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS WILL FAVOR THE HIGHER TERRAIN AND LOWLAND AREAS EAST OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE...AS DRIER AIR IN THE LOW LEVELS WORKS IN FROM THE NORTHWEST BEHIND A WEAK SURFACE TROUGH. SOME DRIER AIR ALOFT WILL MOVE IN FROM THE NORTHEAST SATURDAY...BUT ANOTHER UPTICK IN THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY MAY OCCUR BY SUNDAY AS AN INVERTED TROUGH ALOFT MOVES SOUTH OF THE AREA...WHILE A BACKDOOR COLD FRONT ATTEMPTS TO TO SNEAK IN FROM THE NORTHEAST. THE INCREASED THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WOULD LEAD TO HIGHER RH VALUES...AND COOLER TEMPS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... EL PASO 74 101 75 101 75 / 10 10 30 20 20 SIERRA BLANCA TX 68 100 72 100 67 / 20 20 20 20 20 LAS CRUCES 74 100 71 101 74 / 10 10 30 20 20 ALAMOGORDO 70 99 69 99 71 / 20 30 40 30 20 CLOUDCROFT 53 77 53 77 52 / 20 30 40 30 20 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES 70 98 68 98 70 / 30 30 40 30 20 SILVER CITY 61 93 61 93 62 / 20 30 30 20 20 DEMING 71 100 70 100 71 / 10 20 30 20 20 LORDSBURG 68 99 69 99 69 / 20 30 30 20 20 && .EPZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NM...NONE. TX...NONE. && 21/25
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM 1110 AM MDT THU AUG 12 2010 NMZ022>025-030>032-TXZ055-056-131715- 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- 1110 AM MDT THU AUG 12 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NEW MEXICO...SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO AND SOUTHWEST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER EXPECTED. HOWEVER...ISOLATED TO WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY...ESPECIALLY OVER AREA MOUNTAINS. MODERATE TO BRIEFLY HEAVY RAIN IS POSSIBLE IN ANY STORM. NO WIDESPREAD PROBLEMS ARE ANTICIPATED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY BETTER CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY. STORMS MORE LIKELY OVER THE MOUNTAINS. MODERATE TO BRIEFLY HEAVY RAIN IS POSSIBLE IN SOME STORMS...BUT NO WIDESPREAD PROBLEMS ARE EXPECTED. TEMPERATURES WILL RUN 5 TO 8 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH NEAR RECORD AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES POSSIBLE FRIDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS SHOULD REPORT ANY OBSERVED HAZARDOUS WEATHER OR FLOODING TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THIS OFFICE.
The El Paso radar (KEPZ), 51 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:29 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Wind gusts were estimated up to 65 MPH in northeast Las Cruces.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, August 2010
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: 256898.