A back door cold front moved south on the eastern plains and spawned a few severe thunderstorms over Chaves County. These storms were rare in that they developed during the pre-dawn hours of May 10th and produced large hail and heavy rainfall.
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.
A back door cold front moved south on the eastern plains and spawned a few severe thunderstorms over Chaves County. These storms were rare in that they developed during the pre-dawn hours of May 10th and produced large hail and heavy rainfall.
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 May 10, 2:06 AM MST, 29 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 306 AM MDT FRI MAY 10 2013 .DISCUSSION... ELONGATED TROUGH AXIS/DEFORMATION ZONE WILL SLOWLY SLIDE SOUTH ACROSS NM TODAY AS THE NOW CLOSED UPPER LOW OVER SOUTHERN ARIZONA/NORTHERN MEXICO CONTINUES TO DIVE SOUTHWARD. MEANWHILE...BACK DOOR COLD FRONT CONTINUES TO PUSH WESTWARD THIS MORNING. GAP WINDS HAVENT BEEN QUITE AS STRONG AS PREVIOUSLY EXPECTED DUE TO SOME LIGHT SHOWERS AND OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES IN THE ABQ METRO LAST EVE. NONETHELESS...IT HAS USHERED SOME HIGHER OCTANE MOISTURE WESTWARD TOWARD THE CONT DVD. PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES ACROSS NORTHERN AND CENTRAL NEW MEXICO ARE ROUGHLY 150 PERCENT OF NORMAL. THIS WILL SET THE STAGE FOR NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON. STORMS LOOK TO BE MAINLY FOCUSED OVER THE HIGH TERRAIN EARLY...AND PERHAPS SOUTHEASTERN PARTS OF THE AREA WHERE BETTER MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY RESIDE. THEN...WITH LIGHT STEERING FLOW...IT WILL BE UP TO COLLIDING OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES FOR MANY LOWER ELEVATIONS TO SEE RAINFALL. TODAY CONTINUES TO LOOK LIKE THE MOST ACTIVE DAY OF THE WEEK. OTHERWISE...TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN 5 TO 15 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL...DUE TO THE FRONT...PRECIP AND CLOUD COVER. TEMPERATURES WILL MODERATE TO NEAR NORMAL OVER THE WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK AS THE STATE SLOWLY DRIES OUT. THE UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL BE BLOCKED OVER MEXICO WHILE AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BUILD NORTH OF IT INTO NM. THOUGH THERE WILL BE A SIGNIFICANT DOWN TREND...ENOUGH RESIDUAL MOISTURE WILL BE IN PLACE FOR AT LEAST SCATTERED STORMS OVER THE HIGH TERRAIN. STORM COVERAGE WILL CONTINUE TO WANE ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY...AND HAVE ADJUSTED POPS SLIGHTLY TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS. THE LOW SHOULD FINALLY WEAKEN AND GET A NUDGE NORTHEASTWARD ON TUESDAY. GFS IS A LITTLE QUICKER AT EXITING THE LOW OVER EASTERN NM...AND THEN USHERS MUCH DRIER AIR INTO THE STATE WITH WEST-NORTHWEST FLOW. THE ECMWF AND CANADIAN ARE A LITTLE SLOWER EXITING THE TROUGH...THUS LEAVING A SMALL CHANCE FOR PRECIPITATION WHILE IT MOVES OVERHEAD ON TUESDAY. A BACK DOOR COLD FRONT LOOKS TO BE ON TAP FOR WEDNESDAY...AND THEN DRIER CONDITIONS OVERALL UNTIL PERHAPS NEXT WEEKEND. 34 && .FIRE WEATHER... WETTING RAINS FOR MUCH OF THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND SOUTHERN FIRE WEATHER ZONES TODAY...WITH THE BEST CHANCES ON AND ALONG THE EAST SLOPES OF THE CENTRAL MOUNTAIN CHAIN. PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES WILL BE AROUND 150 PERCENT OF NORMAL TODAY. A FIRE WEATHER SLOWING EVENT WILL PEAK TODAY BUT LAST INTO THE WEEKEND. THIS PERIOD WILL GENERALLY BE CHARACTERIZED WITH BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND ABOVE SEASONABLE HUMIDITY. HAINES VALUES WILL BE TEMPERED AND WIND FLOWS DONT LOOK TO BE ALL THAT STRONG. THE BACK DOOR COLD FRONT HAS MOSTLY FIZZLED SO FAR EARLY THIS MORNING AND DOES NOT LOOK TO BE AS STRONG AS PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT THROUGH THE MID MORNING HOURS. SHOWERS AND STORMS WILL SLOWLY DIMINISH TONIGHT WITH GOOD TO EXCELLENT RH RECOVERY. RECYCLING OF MOISTURE IN THE FORM OF ISOLATED TO SCATTERED STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN THROUGH THE WEEKEND. WETTING RAIN CHANCES WILL DIMINISH DUE TO A GRADUAL WARMING AND DRYING TREND. MODELS STILL SHOW A WEAK MID LEVEL DRY INTRUSION INTO THE NORTHWEST THIRD TO HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA AS THE WEEKEND PROGRESSES SO KEPT THE LOWER THAN MODEL GUIDANCE DEWPOINTS SATURDAY AND ESPECIALLY SUNDAY. THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BECOME MORE UNSTABLE ON SUNDAY WITH A RETURN TO HAINES 5 VALUES ACROSS THE WEST. THE GFS AND ECMWF CONTINUE THE DRYING AND WARMING TREND FOR MONDAY AS THE UPPER RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE INTERIOR WEST KEEPING THE UPPER LOW FURTHER SOUTH OVER NORTHERN MEXICO. HIGH TEMPERATURES ON MONDAY SHOULD BECOME NEAR TO ABOVE NORMAL BY A FEW DEGREES WHILE MINIMUM RH VALUES FALL INTO THE TEENS AND 20S. THE GFS AND ECMWF CONTINUE TO BRING THE ORIGINAL UPPER WAVE THAT WILL RESIDE OVER MEXICO BACK OVER THE STATE TUESDAY WITH RESIDUAL DRIER NORTHWEST FLOW ON WEDNESDAY. THERE WILL BE ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ON TUESDAY WITH SOME ENHANCED DRY SLOTTING MID WEEK. CONFIDENCE IS SOMEWHAT STRONGER WITH THIS SOLUTION AS THE RUN TO RUN MODEL HAS GAINED SOME CONTINUITY. GFS AND ECMWF MORE IN LINE WITH SOME RIDGING LATE IN THE WEEK WITH A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE APPROACHING LATE FRIDAY. THIS MEANS ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND LOWER HUMIDITY VALUES. ENOUGH RESIDUAL MOISTURE WILL LINGER FOR ISOLATED SHOWERS AND STORMS MAINLY FROM THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS TO THE TEXAS BORDER FROM WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. CHJ && .AVIATION... 06Z TAF CYCLE ISOLD TO SCT -SHRA AND PERHAPS A -TSRA WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT MAINLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF I-40 AS A COLD FRONT FINISHES PUSHING SWWD THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA. A GUSTY E CANYON WIND WILL DEVELOP FROM KABQ TO CARRIZOZO FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT...BUT WINDS DO NOT LOOK LIKE THEY WILL BE STRONG ENOUGH TO WARRANT AN AVIATION WEATHER WARNING FOR THE SUNPORT. MODELS ARE HINTING AT SOME LOW CLOUDS FROM KLVS TO KTCC THAT COULD BRIEFLY PRODUCE MVFR CIGS BY SUNRISE THIS MORNING...HOWEVER THE BETTER BET IS AT KROW AND POSSIBLY KSRR WHERE THERE IS SOME AGREEMENT ON MOISTURE CONCENTRATION AMONG THE MODELS. THE FRONT WILL INTRODUCE ENOUGH MOISTURE FOR SCT TO NUMEROUS -SHRA/-TSRA ON FRI. ALL TAF SITES WILL HAVE A CHANCE FOR -TSRA FRI AFTN/EVENING. THE 700 TO 500 MPH STREAMLINES INDICATE CELLS WILL TRAVEL TOWARD THE SW...WHICH SHOULD PUSH STORMS OVER KSAF AND KABQ. UPPER DYNAMICS WILL ALSO FAVOR THE S CENTRAL MTNS EASTWARD ACROSS KROW FOR TS DEVELOPMENT. 44 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... FARMINGTON...................... 71 44 76 45 / 20 20 10 10 DULCE........................... 66 33 71 36 / 40 20 20 20 CUBA............................ 65 36 70 37 / 50 40 30 20 GALLUP.......................... 67 37 71 35 / 40 20 20 10 EL MORRO........................ 60 32 64 32 / 50 30 20 20 GRANTS.......................... 66 41 69 38 / 50 40 20 20 QUEMADO......................... 63 38 67 38 / 50 30 20 20 GLENWOOD........................ 70 36 73 35 / 40 30 20 20 CHAMA........................... 59 32 61 34 / 60 30 40 30 LOS ALAMOS...................... 61 43 64 46 / 50 40 20 20 PECOS........................... 56 41 61 43 / 60 50 30 20 CERRO/QUESTA.................... 62 36 65 38 / 60 30 30 30 RED RIVER....................... 51 31 54 32 / 70 40 50 40 ANGEL FIRE...................... 56 27 58 27 / 60 40 40 30 TAOS............................ 63 34 67 37 / 50 30 30 20 MORA............................ 56 37 60 39 / 60 40 30 20 ESPANOLA........................ 68 41 71 44 / 50 30 20 10 SANTA FE........................ 61 43 65 44 / 60 40 20 20 SANTA FE AIRPORT................ 66 41 70 43 / 50 30 20 20 ALBUQUERQUE FOOTHILLS........... 65 48 69 50 / 50 40 20 20 ALBUQUERQUE HEIGHTS............. 67 49 72 51 / 40 30 10 10 ALBUQUERQUE VALLEY.............. 68 46 73 48 / 30 30 10 10 ALBUQUERQUE WEST MESA........... 68 47 73 48 / 40 30 10 10 LOS LUNAS....................... 68 45 72 47 / 40 30 10 10 RIO RANCHO...................... 70 47 73 47 / 40 30 10 10 SOCORRO......................... 71 45 76 47 / 40 30 20 10 SANDIA PARK/CEDAR CREST......... 64 41 69 43 / 60 40 30 20 TIJERAS......................... 66 42 71 43 / 60 40 20 20 MORIARTY/ESTANCIA............... 61 41 66 42 / 50 40 20 20 CLINES CORNERS.................. 60 39 66 41 / 70 40 30 20 GRAN QUIVIRA.................... 61 40 66 43 / 60 30 20 20 CARRIZOZO....................... 64 43 70 44 / 40 30 20 20 RUIDOSO......................... 55 36 60 39 / 70 50 30 30 CAPULIN......................... 60 37 63 40 / 40 30 30 20 RATON........................... 63 37 67 38 / 40 30 20 20 SPRINGER........................ 63 38 66 39 / 50 30 20 20 LAS VEGAS....................... 60 37 65 40 / 60 40 30 20 CLAYTON......................... 67 43 70 46 / 20 20 20 10 ROY............................. 63 42 65 43 / 40 30 20 20 CONCHAS......................... 70 45 74 47 / 40 20 10 10 SANTA ROSA...................... 67 45 71 47 / 50 30 20 10 TUCUMCARI....................... 71 48 76 49 / 40 20 10 10 CLOVIS.......................... 67 45 72 47 / 40 30 10 10 PORTALES........................ 68 46 74 49 / 40 30 10 10 FORT SUMNER..................... 67 46 73 49 / 40 30 20 10 ROSWELL......................... 69 50 75 50 / 60 40 20 10 PICACHO......................... 62 45 68 46 / 60 40 30 20 ELK............................. 58 41 63 43 / 70 50 40 30 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 34
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 600 AM MDT THU MAY 9 2013 NMZ501>540-101200- 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- 600 AM MDT THU MAY 9 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH AND CENTRAL NEW MEXICO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. HOWEVER... A PAIR OF BACK DOOR COLD FRONTS WILL BRING MOISTURE AND MODEST INSTABILITY TO THE EASTERN PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A FEW STRONG TO PERHAPS SEVERE STORMS MAY DEVELOP...POTENTIALLY PRODUCING STRONG OR DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY 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... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR THE EAST CENTRAL PLAINS DUE TO THE POTENTIAL FOR A FEW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS. 34
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 317 AM MDT FRI MAY 10 2013 NMZ538-100945- CHAVES COUNTY PLAINS- 317 AM MDT FRI MAY 10 2013 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR CENTRAL CHAVES COUNTY THROUGH 345 AM MDT... AT 312 AM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 7 MILES WEST OF DEXTER...OR ABOUT 11 MILES SOUTH OF ROSWELL...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. AREAS AFFECTED BY THIS STORM INCLUDE...DEXTER...BOTTOMLESS LAKES STATE PARK AND MIDWAY. THIS STORM MAY INTENSIFY...SO BE CERTAIN TO MONITOR LOCAL RADIO AND TV STATIONS...AS WELL AS LOCAL CABLE TV OUTLETS...FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. && LAT...LON 3324 10418 3308 10457 3330 10460 3344 10439 TIME...MOT...LOC 0917Z 235DEG 17KT 3322 10447 40
The Holloman AFB radar (KHDX), 148 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 09:35 UTC.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail began at the Roswell Correctional Facility around 330am and grew to the size of ping pong balls at 340am and remained severe for several minutes afterward.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, May 2013
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: 439226.