This day started out active with severe thunderstorms erupting over and east of the south central mountains during the early morning hours on the nose of a weak mid level jet. Precipitation began to form in Arizona ahead of an upper level cut off low coming in off the coast of California.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
This day started out active with severe thunderstorms erupting over and east of the south central mountains during the early morning hours on the nose of a weak mid level jet. Precipitation began to form in Arizona ahead of an upper level cut off low coming in off the coast of California. Activity expanded over portions of western and central New Mexico throughout the day as the low shifted east. In addition to the upper level system, a back door cold front had also moved into northeastern New Mexico. Strong to severe thunderstorms developed over the area in this pattern with numerous reports of large hail and damaging winds over northern New Mexico and the eastern plains. A tornado even touched down in the Pecos Wilderness to the north of Pecos.
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 12, 10:37 AM MST, 8 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 1137 AM MDT FRI OCT 12 2012 .AVIATION... 18Z TAF CYCLE CHALLENGING AND DYNAMIC WEATHER DAY WITH FAST MOVING SHOWERS AND STORMS. THE MAIN THREAT OF IFR AND MVFR DUE TO PRECIPITATION WILL BE FOUND AT TCC AND LVS BUT CANT RULE OUT ANY LOCATION EVEN THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY TERMINALS DUE TO THE ATMOSPHERIC DYNAMICS IN PLACE. MID LEVEL DRY SLOT WILL GRADUALLY CLEAR CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION OUT ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA THIS EVENING AND THIS IS INDICATED IN THE NEW TERMINAL FORECAST SET. DUE TO THE FAST MOVING NATURE TO THE STORMS...WIND GUSTS WILL VARY PRETTY SIGNIFICANTLY BUT MOST OF THE READINGS SHOULD REMAIN LESS THAN 35 KT UNDER THE MORE GENERAL WIND REGIME. FORECASTING THE WIND SHIFT FROM WEST TO EAST THE NEXT 6 TO 10 HOURS WILL ALSO BE TRICKY AT TIMES BUT SHOULD GO FROM A SOUTH/SOUTHEAST TO A WEST/NORTHWEST AS TIME PROGRESSES. DUE TO THE COLD FRONT ACROSS THE NORTHEAST PLAINS...WIND DIRECTIONS WILL ALSO BE SQUIRRELY THERE. 50 && .PREV DISCUSSION...326 AM MDT FRI OCT 12 2012... BUSY MORNING ALREADY...AND VERY ACTIVE DAY ON TAP. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ERUPTED OVER AND JUST EAST OF THE SOUTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS ON THE NOSE OF A WEAK MID LEVEL JET. SUSPECT THERE HAS BEEN SOME FAIRLY LARGE HAIL ACROSS SOUTHWEST CHAVES COUNTY. STORMS LOOKS TO BE LINING OUT ATTM...BUT WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE SOME OCCASIONAL SUPERCELL STRUCTURES EMBEDDED IN THE LINE. MODELS ARE NOT HANDLING THIS WELL...BUT IF IT PERSISTS THROUGH THE MORNING...IT MAY LIMIT THE SEVERE POTENTIAL THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS THE PLAINS. MEANWHILE...PRECIPITATION IS BLOSSOMING OVER ARIZONA AHEAD OF UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM IN AN AREA OF STRONG UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE. THIS ACTIVITY SHOULD BEGIN TO EXPAND OVER WESTERN/CENTRAL NEW MEXICO THIS MORNING AS THE SYSTEM SHIFTS EAST. ADDITIONALLY...A BACK DOOR COLD FRONT HAS MOVED INTO NORTHEAST NM. TEMPERATURES ARE QUITE COOL BEHIND THE FRONT...AND AS A RESULT...THE AREA HAS BECOME QUITE STABLE. EXPECTING PRECIPITATION TO EXPAND AS WARM AIR RIDES OVER THE BOUNDARY. INITIALLY...THERE MAY NOT BE MUCH THUNDER IN THIS AREA...BUT AS THE FRONT WASHES OUT/RETREATS THIS AFTERNOON AND THE AREA DESTABILIZES...THUNDER SHOULD BECOME MORE PREVALENT. DRY SLOT WILL PUNCH INTO SOUTHWEST NM THIS AFTERNOON AS PACIFIC FRONT PUSHES FROM WEST TO EAST. AS MIXING OCCURS...35-40KT 700 MB WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO MIX DOWN TO THE SURFACE. WILL ISSUE A LOW END WIND ADVISORY FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL NM BEHIND THE FRONT. STRONGEST WINDS WILL LIKELY BE ALONG THE LEADING EDGE OF THE FRONT...THOUGH A SPORADIC STRONGER WINDS ARE LIKELY THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. NOT EXPECTING ANY ONE AREA TO HAVE A LONG DURATION WIND EVENT. THE PACIFIC FRONT WILL MOVE INTO EASTERN NM BY MID TO LATE AFTERNOON AND WILL INTERACT WITH SURFACE DEWPOINTS APPROACHING 60F. PACIFIC AND BACK DOOR FRONTS WILL BE FOCI FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS STARTING...OR RE-STARTING...FAIRLY EARLY IN THE DAY. AGAIN...A BROKEN LINE OF SEVERE STORMS ARE EXPECTED...WITH SUPERCELL STORMS POSSIBLE. SHEAR IS EXPECTED TO STRENGTHEN DURING THE EVENING WITH DIURNAL BACKING AND A STRENGTHENING LLJ...THUS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR A TORNADO OR TWO. STORMS SHOULD FINALLY MOVE OUT LATE TONIGHT/EARLY SATURDAY MORNING AS DRY SLOT SLAMS THROUGH NM. TROUGH AXIS WILL SWING ACROSS THE STATE ON SATURDAY...AND A FEW SHOWERS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE NORTHERN MTNS. OF MORE SIGNIFICANCE WILL BE THE STRONG WINDS THAT WILL REDEVELOP EARLY SATURDAY MORNING AND GRADUALLY DECREASE DURING THE AFTERNOON. STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE ALONG AND EAST OF THE CENTRAL MTN CHAIN...FAVORING THE I-40 CORRIDOR. QUIETER WEATHER IS ON TAP FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE PERIOD UNDER DRY NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. 34 .FIRE WEATHER... VERY ACTIVE WEATHER THROUGH THIS EVENING. UPPER LEVEL STORM OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND ASSOCIATED SURFACE FRONT TO IMPACT NEW MEXICO TODAY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH WETTING RAINS TO DEVELOP OVER MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA EARLY TODAY BEFORE DIMINISHING QUICKLY TONIGHT. STRONG WINDS AS WELL TODAY MAINLY OVER SOUTHWEST...SOUTH CENTRAL AND EAST CENTRAL AREAS. ANY THUNDERSTORM TODAY COULD PRODUCE WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH. SEVERE WEATHER LIKELY OVER THE FAR EASTERN PLAINS TODAY THROUGH THIS EVENING WITH OVER INCH OR LARGER HAIL AND 65 MPH WIND GUSTS. TO FURTHER COMPLICATE THINGS TODAY A BACK DOOR COLD FRONT IS PRESSING SOUTH AND WEST ACROSS THE EASTERN PLAINS. AN EAST CANYON WIND IS EVEN POSSIBLE FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS THIS MORNING...BUT THIS IS LOOKING LESS LIKELY. SOME SNOW POSSIBLE TONIGHT OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS BUT ANY ACCUMULATION SHOULD BE CONFINED TO ABOVE NINE OR TEN THOUSAND FEET. RH RECOVERIES GOOD TO EXCELLENT TONIGHT. AS THE UPPER LOW AND FRONT PROGRESS NORTHEASTWARD...RAPID DRYING WILL SURGE FROM WEST TO EAST OVER THE STATE LATE TODAY AND TONIGHT. A FEW RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS COULD LINGER OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS SATURDAY. NW FLOW STILL SHOULD RULE THE AREA WEATHER PATTERN EARLY TO MID WEEK NEXT WEEK...SO DRY AND WARMER WEATHER ARE FORECAST. DAYTIME TEMPERATURES RECOVER TO ABOVE AVERAGE VALUES MONDAY WHILE SOME AFTERNOON NORTHWEST BREEZES WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG AND JUST EAST OF THE CENTRAL MOUNTAIN CHAIN. CHJ && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES... NMZ505>508-521-523-524-529. && 50
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 700 AM MDT FRI OCT 12 2012 NMZ501>540-131200- ALBUQUERQUE METRO AREA-CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-CHAVES COUNTY PLAINS- CHUSKA MOUNTAINS-CURRY COUNTY-DE BACA COUNTY- EAST SLOPES SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS-EASTERN LINCOLN COUNTY- EASTERN SAN MIGUEL COUNTY-ESTANCIA VALLEY-FAR NORTHEAST HIGHLANDS- FAR NORTHWEST HIGHLANDS-GUADALUPE COUNTY-HARDING COUNTY- JEMEZ MOUNTAINS-LOWER CHAMA RIVER VALLEY-LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY- NORTHEAST HIGHLANDS- NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTOS ABOVE 9500 FEET/RED RIVER- NORTHWEST HIGHLANDS-NORTHWEST PLATEAU-QUAY COUNTY- RATON RIDGE/JOHNSON MESA-ROOSEVELT COUNTY-SAN FRANCISCO RIVER VALLEY- SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-SANDIA/MANZANO MOUNTAINS-SANTA FE METRO AREA- SOUTH CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-SOUTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS- SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTOS ABOVE 9500 FEET-SOUTHWEST CHAVES COUNTY- SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS-UNION COUNTY-UPPER RIO GRANDE VALLEY- UPPER TULAROSA VALLEY-WEST CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-WEST CENTRAL MOUNTAINS- WEST CENTRAL PLATEAU-WEST SLOPES SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS- 700 AM MDT FRI OCT 12 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH AND CENTRAL NEW MEXICO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ALONG AND EAST OF A LINE FROM CLAYTON TO ROSWELL THROUGH THIS EVENING. GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS NEAR 60 MPH AND A TORNADO OR TWO ARE POSSIBLE. AREAS OF HEAVY RAIN MAY ALSO LEAD TO FLOODING. THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ALONG AND NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM GALLUP TO DULCE. THE MAIN THREATS IN THIS AREA ARE LOCALLY DAMAGING WINDS AND PERHAPS A TORNADO. STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS WITH GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH ARE LIKELY ACROSS PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL NEW MEXICO AS WELL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...WEATHER CAN CHANGE VERY RAPIDLY. ALWAYS USE THE LATEST FORECASTS...WATCHES AND WARNINGS FOR PLANNING PURPOSES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS SHOULD REPORT SEVERE WEATHER THROUGH THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE WEB SITE OR BY CALLING 1.888.386.7637. 34
The Albuquerque radar (KABX), 196 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:45 UTC.
13 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
The Chief of Police in Bloomfield stated he had golf ball size hail at his home SE of Bloomfield in the late morning. Via email correspondence.
Quarter size hail reported at the Los Alamos airport.
Newspaper report with images of significant hail damage to a mobile home in Los Alamos. Home owners reported hail was ping pong ball sized. Location is estimated from article giving home address. Time is estimated, based on radar imagery and other hail reports in the area. All images attached to this event are courtesy of the Los Alamos Daily Post newspaper.
Hail piled up to a depth of four inches. County officials had to utilize snow plows to clear hail piles from roadways.
KOB-TV reported from the Los Alamos Monitor Newspaper that multiple aircraft at the Los Alamos Airport were damaged. A thin metal surface on numerous planes was dinged and dented due to large hail. The Airport Manager was reported as saying up to 18 planes were damaged.
Hail up to four inches deep was piled up for an unusually long time. The ground was completely covered, and eyewitnesses reported that it looked as thought it had snowed.
Nickel hail 4.2 miles west northwest of Lamy.
Nickel hail 4.3 miles north northwest of Lamy.
Large hail reported at Rancheros Campground. Hail lasted for 12 minutes.
Nickel hail 5 miles north northeast of Glorieta accompanied by very heavy rain and lightning.
Numerous large ponderosa pine trees snapped in half. Log cabin under construction received considerable damage with debris lofted into nearby trees.
Quarter sized hail 2.4 miles east southeast of Boaz lasted for about 2 minutes.
Clayton ASOS KCAO recorded a thunderstorm wind gust of 62mph.
Spotter reported heavy rain with near an inch and a half of precipitation measured as well as hail up to quarter size 3.5 miles north of Porter.
Heavy rain along with quarter sized hail accompanied this storm with an estimated wind gust to 60mph.
Spotter reported hail size based on the fact that it knocked off side view mirror of his vehicle 0.7 miles south of Forrest.
Hail and heavy rain also accompanied this storm with an estimated wind gust up to 60 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for New Mexico, 2012Warnings in New Mexico, October 2012
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: 411544, 408526, 408587, 408527, 408836, 408529, 408530, 408531, 408532, 408533, 410374, 408535, 408539, 408536, 408540, 408538, 408543.