A strong cutoff low was located over the Great Basin with a 125 knot jet stream rounding the base of this system and moving into Western New Mexico. Some of these strong winds were able to mix down to the surface and produce wind gusts over 60 mph with visibilities under a quarter mile at times.
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.
A strong cutoff low was located over the Great Basin with a 125 knot jet stream rounding the base of this system and moving into Western New Mexico. Some of these strong winds were able to mix down to the surface and produce wind gusts over 60 mph with visibilities under a quarter mile at times.
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 Apr 1, 3:47 AM MST, 5 hours 4 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM 447 AM MDT FRI APR 1 2011 .SYNOPSIS... MOSTLY SUNNY AND WARM CONDITIONS THROUGH SUNDAY. RECORDS HIGHS ARE POSSIBLE ON SATURDAY. AN APPROACHING UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM WILL GIVE US VERY WINDY CONDITIONS ON SUNDAY. MONDAY WILL ALSO BE WINDY AND COOLER. FOR THE REST OF NEXT WEEK WE WILL RETURN TO OUR MOSTLY SUNNY AND WARM CONDITIONS. && .DISCUSSION... LOTS OF WIND ON THE WAY FOR THE LATTER PART OF THE WEEKEND. BEFORE THEN AN AREA OF UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE WILL SLOWLY BUILD ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST. THAT WILL HELP KEEP US SUNNY AND WARM. TEMPERATURES TODAY WILL APPROACH RECORD LEVELS AND THEN AS THE RIDGE MOVES OVER NEW MEXICO ON SATURDAY WE WILL SEE TEMPERATURES AT OR A LITTLE ABOVE RECORD LEVELS. THE UPPER RIDGE WILL PICK UP SPEED AND QUICKLY MOVE OF TO OUR EAST LATE ON SATURDAY...IN ITS WAKE A FAST MOVING UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL DIVE BOMB ITS WAY ACROSS NEW MEXICO ON SUNDAY. AS THE THIS TROUGH APPROACHES IT WILL REALLY TIGHTEN UP THE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT. THE CURRENT MODELS ARE INDICATING A HIGH END WIND ADVISORY EVENT OR LOW END HIGH WIND WARNING EVENT...ANY WAY YOU LOOK AT IT...IT WILL BE WINDY. WITH THE VERY DRY CONDITIONS THIS WILL PRODUCE CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS WELL INTO THE EVENING HOURS ON SUNDAY. THE STRONGEST UPPER LEVEL WIND SUPPORT DOESN'T ARRIVE UNTIL EARLY MONDAY MORNING SO WINDS MAY STAY UP DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY MORNING. AS THE TROUGH SWINGS BY IN ADDITION TO THE WINDS IT WILL BRING A QUICK SHOT OF COOLER AIR. THE FRONT LOOKS TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA EARLY ON MONDAY. TEMPERATURES ON MONDAY AFTERNOON MAY ACTUALLY BE BELOW NORMAL. ANOTHER RIDGE WILL BUILD ACROSS THE AREA ON NEXT TUESDAY WHICH WILL CONTINUE OUR SUNNY DRY WEATHER AND GIVE OUR TEMPERATURES A KICK BACK ABOVE NORMAL. ON WEDNESDAY THE EXTENDED MODELS TRY AND BRING A TROUGH ACROSS THE AREA. THEY DO INDICATE THAT IT MIGHT HAVE ENOUGH MOISTURE FOR SOME PRECIPITATION...BUT FOR NOW I'M TAKING A WAIT AND SEE ATTITUDE AND HAVE KEPT THE POPS OUT OF THE FORECAST. LOOKING AT TEMPERATURES FOR TODAY WE WILL SEE OUR HIGHS RUNNING AROUND TEN DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. FOR SATURDAY WE WILL BE NEAR RECORD HIGHS AS TEMPERATURES WILL RUN TWELVE TO FIFTEEN DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. ON SUNDAY AS THE WINDS KICK IN AND THE TROUGH APPROACHES WE WILL SEE HIGHS RUNNING AROUND TEN DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. ON MONDAY AFTER THE COLD FRONT HAS MOVED THROUGH WE WILL SEE HIGHS FIVE TO SEVEN DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. ON TUESDAY AS THE UPPER RIDGE RETURNS WE WILL SEE HIGHS RUNNING NEAR SEASONAL NORMALS. FINALLY FOR NEXT WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY WE WILL SEE HIGHS RUNNING THREE TO FIVE DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. && .AVIATION...01/12Z-02/12Z GENERALLY VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. SURFACE WINDS FROM THE WEST AT 15 KTS OR LESS. STRONGER WINDS EXPECTED ON SATURDAY AND VERY WINDY CONDITIONS EXPECTED ON SUNDAY. CEILINGS WILL REMAIN UNLIMITED THROUGH THE NEXT 24 HOURS. && .FIRE WEATHER... ONE MORE NICE SUNNY WARM DAY BEFORE CONDITIONS BEGIN TO GET MORE WINDY. ON SATURDAY WE WILL SEE NEAR RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES AND BREEZY AFTERNOON WINDS. RH'S WILL EASILY BE IN RED FLAG CONDITIONS AND WINDS WILL BE PRETTY CLOSE BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON. ON SUNDAY AN APPROACHING UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING VERY STRONG WINDS TO THE AREA. RED FLAG CONDITIONS WILL EASILY BE MET AND MAY LAST WELL INTO THE EVENING HOURS. AFTER THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVES BY WE WILL SEE COOLER TEMPERATURES ON MONDAY. FOR THE MIDDLE PART OF NEXT WEEK WE WILL RETURN TO OUR SUNNY WARM WEATHER WITH OCCASIONALLY BREEZY AFTERNOONS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... EL PASO 87 56 91 65 85 / 0 0 0 0 0 SIERRA BLANCA TX 85 49 93 58 88 / 0 0 0 0 0 LAS CRUCES 86 54 90 59 84 / 0 0 0 0 0 ALAMOGORDO 84 53 89 57 83 / 0 0 0 0 0 CLOUDCROFT 64 45 67 48 61 / 0 0 0 0 0 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES 85 51 86 54 78 / 0 0 0 0 0 SILVER CITY 79 48 81 51 71 / 0 0 0 0 0 DEMING 85 46 87 51 79 / 0 0 0 0 0 LORDSBURG 86 51 88 48 80 / 0 0 0 0 0 && .EPZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NM...NONE. TX...NONE. && BRICE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM 600 AM MDT FRI APR 1 2011 NMZ022>025-030>032-TXZ055-056-021200- 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- 600 AM MDT FRI APR 1 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NEW MEXICO...SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO AND SOUTHWEST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES EXPECTED ON SATURDAY. ON SUNDAY WE WILL SEE VERY STRONG WINDS WHICH WILL PRODUCE CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS AND AREAS OF BLOWING DUST WHICH COULD MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM 553 AM MDT FRI APR 1 2011 NMZ022>025-030>032-TXZ055-056-020000- 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- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...SILVER CITY...TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES... ALAMOGORDO...MESCALERO...CLOUDCROFT...TIMBERON...LORDSBURG... DEMING...LAS CRUCES...EL PASO...SIERRA BLANCA...DELL CITY 553 AM MDT FRI APR 1 2011 ...RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES EXPECTED ON SATURDAY... ...VERY STRONG WINDS AND BLOWING DUST EXPECTED FOR SUNDAY... AN AREA OF UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE WILL TAKE CONTROL OF OUR WEATHER FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. HIGH PRESSURE GENERALLY GIVES US SUNNY WARM WEATHER AND THIS WILL BE THE CASE WITH THIS SYSTEM. HIGH TEMPERATURES TODAY WILL APPROACH RECORD LEVELS. HIGHS IN THE LOWLANDS WILL BE IN THE MID TO UPPER 80'S...WHILE MOUNTAIN LOCATIONS WILL SEE HIGHS IN THE MID TO UPPER 60'S. ON SATURDAY AS THE AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE MOVE DIRECTLY OVER NEW MEXICO WE WILL SEE OUR WARMEST DAY SO FAR THIS YEAR. RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE LIKELY ON SATURDAY. HIGHS IN THE LOWLANDS WILL BE NEAR 90 AND IN THE MOUNTAINS THEY WILL BE NEAR 70. THE LAST TIME EL PASO HIT 90 DEGREES WAS ON OCTOBER 2ND OF LAST YEAR WHEN THE MERCURY ROSE TO 91 DEGREES. IN ADDITION TO THE WARM TEMPERATURES ON SATURDAY WE WILL SEE BREEZY AFTERNOON WINDS. JUST A TASTE OF WHAT IS COMING ON SUNDAY. THE UPPER LEVEL AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE OFF TO THE EAST LATE ON SATURDAY AND FAST ON ITS HEELS WILL BE A POTENT UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM. THIS SYSTEM WILL HELP TIGHTEN OUR SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT WHICH WILL GIVE US VERY STRONG WINDS BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON. THE SYSTEM WILL BE SLOW TO MOVE OUT SO THE STRONG WINDS WILL CONTINUE WELL INTO SUNDAY NIGHT AND MAY EVEN LAST INTO THE FIRST PART OF MONDAY MORNING. THE WINDS ON SUNDAY WILL CREATE CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS AND MAY PRODUCE SOME AREAS OF BLOWING DUST. DUST PRONE AREAS ALONG I-10 WEST OF LAS CRUCES AND HIGHWAYS AND ROADS NORTH AND SOUTH OF DEMING COULD SEE VERY LOW VISIBILITIES BECAUSE OF THE BLOWING DUST. WINDS WILL FINALLY DIMINISH LATE ON MONDAY. ALSO ON MONDAY WE WILL SEE COOLER TEMPERATURES AS OUR HIGHS WILL BE AROUND FIVE DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. BRICE
1 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Visibilities of a quarter mile were reported intermittently at the Deming ASOS. US Highway 180 north of Deming, Highway 11 between Deming and Columbus, and Highway 26 between Deming and Hatch were closed for parts of the day due to significant blowing dust.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, April 2011
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: 299447.