The approach of, and passage over the area, of an upper level cutoff low resulted in high winds in the Guadalupe Mountains.
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 MAF wrote it up.
The approach of, and passage over the area, of an upper level cutoff low resulted in high winds in the Guadalupe Mountains.
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 Midland/Odessa, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 18, 4:26 AM MST, 5 hours 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX
626 AM CDT SUN MAR 18 2012
.DISCUSSION...
SEE AVIATION DISCUSSION BELOW.
&&
.AVIATION...
VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED AT THE TERMINALS THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST WINDS AT MAINLY 15 TO 25 MPH ARE EXPECTED
THROUGH THIS MORNING. WINDS WILL BECOME SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST
AND INCREASE TO 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS OVER 40 MPH BY EARLY
THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY EVENING. CLOUD
DECKS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN AT OR ABOVE 10KT THROUGH THE TAF
PERIOD.
12
&&
.MAF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NM...RED FLAG WARNING FROM NOON TODAY TO 8 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR
THE FOLLOWING ZONES... GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS NP/LINCOLN
NF/LNZ...SOUTHEAST PLAINS/BLM ROSWELL/LNZ.
WIND ADVISORY FROM NOON TODAY TO 9 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR THE
FOLLOWING ZONES... CENTRAL LEA COUNTY...EDDY COUNTY
PLAINS...NORTHERN LEA COUNTY...SOUTHERN LEA COUNTY.
HIGH WIND WARNING FROM NOON TODAY TO 3 AM MDT MONDAY FOR THE
FOLLOWING ZONES... GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS OF EDDY COUNTY.
HIGH WIND WATCH FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY EVENING FOR THE
FOLLOWING ZONES... GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS OF EDDY COUNTY.
TX...RED FLAG WARNING FROM 1 PM CDT /NOON MDT/ THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 PM
CDT /8 PM MDT/ THIS EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES...
ANDREWS...CRANE...DAVIS/APACHE MOUNTAINS AREA...DAWSON...
ECTOR...GAINES...GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS...LOVING...MARFA
PLATEAU...MARTIN...MIDLAND...PECOS...PRESIDIO VALLEY...
REEVES COUNTY AND UPPER TRANS PECOS...UPTON...VAN HORN AND
HIGHWAY 54 CORRIDOR...WARD...WINKLER.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 10 PM CDT THIS EVENING
FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES... DAVIS/APACHE MOUNTAINS AREA...
MARFA PLATEAU...VAN HORN AND HIGHWAY 54 CORRIDOR.
HIGH WIND WARNING FROM NOON TODAY TO 3 AM MDT MONDAY FOR THE
FOLLOWING ZONES... GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS.
HIGH WIND WATCH FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY EVENING FOR THE
FOLLOWING ZONES... DAVIS/APACHE MOUNTAINS AREA...GUADALUPE
MOUNTAINS.
&&
12HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 522 AM CDT SUN MAR 18 2012 NMZ027>029-033-034-TXZ045>048-050>053-057>063-067>070-074-075- 079>082-258-182000- GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS OF EDDY COUNTY-EDDY COUNTY PLAINS- NORTHERN LEA COUNTY-CENTRAL LEA COUNTY-SOUTHERN LEA COUNTY-GAINES- DAWSON-BORDEN-SCURRY-ANDREWS-MARTIN-HOWARD-MITCHELL- VAN HORN AND HIGHWAY 54 CORRIDOR-REEVES COUNTY AND UPPER TRANS PECOS- LOVING-WINKLER-ECTOR-MIDLAND-GLASSCOCK-WARD-CRANE-UPTON-REAGAN- DAVIS/APACHE MOUNTAINS AREA-PECOS-PRESIDIO VALLEY-MARFA PLATEAU- BIG BEND AREA-TERRELL-GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS- 522 AM CDT SUN MAR 18 2012 /422 AM MDT SUN MAR 18 2012/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO...SOUTHWEST TEXAS AND WEST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT WARM...DRY...AND WINDY CONDITIONS THIS AFTERNOON WILL PERSIST INTO THE EVENING OVER THE SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO PLAINS...VAN HORN AND HIGHWAY 54 CORRIDOR REGION...TRANS PECOS...DAVIS AND GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS...MARFA PLATEAU...PRESIDIO VALLEY AND THE WESTERN AND CENTRAL PERMIAN BASIN. A RED FLAG WARNING IS IN EFFECT TODAY FROM 1 PM CDT UNTIL 9 PM CDT FOR THESE AREAS. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT FOR AREAS GENERALLY ALONG AND EAST OF A SEMINOLE... MONAHANS...FORT STOCKTON...MARATHON LINE. A FEW STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AS A STRONG UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM APPROACHES THE REGION. SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 35 TO 45 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 65 MPH ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT IN THE GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS. A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT. SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH MID EVENING FOR THE SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO PLAINS...VAN HORN HIGHWAY 54 CORRIDOR...DAVIS MOUNTAINS AND MARFA PLATEAU. A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THESE AREAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY HIGH WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE AGAIN MONDAY ACROSS THE GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS AND THE DAVIS MOUNTAINS ABOVE 6000 FEET. A HIGH WIND WATCH IS IN EFFECT MONDAY FOR THESE AREAS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... THERE IS A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF SPOTTER ACTIVATION LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. THIS PRODUCT...ALONG WITH OTHER WATCHES...WARNINGS...ADVISORIES... AND STATEMENTS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN MIDLAND CAN BE FOUND ON THE INTERNET AT /LOWER CASE/ HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/MIDLAND
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
An extended period of high sustained winds of 41-64 mph, and gusts of 58-75 mph, occurred in the Guadalupe Mountains.
An extensive period of high winds affected the higher elevations of the Guadalupe Mountains. Sporadic high wind gusts of 59-62 mph occurred during this time.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, March 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: 365401, 365402.