The first significant storm system of the fall season raced across New Mexico with high winds, blowing dust, and much colder temperatures. Winds increased quickly after sunrise then peaked by early afternoon as a strong cold front raced eastward across the state.
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.
The first significant storm system of the fall season raced across New Mexico with high winds, blowing dust, and much colder temperatures. Winds increased quickly after sunrise then peaked by early afternoon as a strong cold front raced eastward across the state. The strongest winds impacted eastern New Mexico where widespread gusts of 60 to 70 mph were common. A peak wind of 94 mph was reported at the top of the Sandia Peak Tram. The Rio Grande Valley also experienced strong winds with some minor damage reported around Santa Fe and Albuquerque. This storm system also brought an end to the fifth longest growing season with the third latest freeze on record in Albuquerque.
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 Nov 17, 4:48 AM MST, 3 hours 12 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 448 AM MST Thu Nov 17 2016 .AVIATION... 12Z TAF CYCLE Strong winds will develop by mid to late morning as the jet stream moves overhead. A Pacific cold front will cross from the west shifting winds out of the northwest as the day progresses. Areas of blowing dust will impact TAF sites on the eastern plains during the afternoon with IFR conditions likely in dust-prone locations. Scattered to isolated rain and mountain snow showers may also develop across the northern mountains and northwest highlands with some mountain obscuration possible, but these should finish by sunset. Wind speeds will gradually weaken through the evening. 44 && .PREV DISCUSSION...326 AM MST Thu Nov 17 2016... .SYNOPSIS... Strong to damaging winds are expected today. 70 mph gusts are not out of the question for areas along and east of the central mountain chain. This may cause damage to roofs, trees and powerlines. Areas of blowing dust may also develop which will reduce visibilities. Additionally, a strong cold front will plow through the area dropping temperatures dramatically. Freezing temperatures are expected for the majority of the area tonight, and may be even colder Friday night across the plains. A warming trend is expected this weekend, but another storm system is on tap for Monday and Tuesday. However, this next system looks to bring more precipitation than wind. && .DISCUSSION... Today is the day. Winds are going to be extraordinarily high today, especially along and east of the central mountain chain late this morning and this afternoon. Wind damage will be possible, given that gusts could near 70 mph. A trough of low pressure will cross northern NM and CO today with an associated mid level jet of 50-65kt sweeping across NM during peak heating. High clouds this morning should give way to sunny skies by the afternoon, which will increase mixing heights over yesterday, and tap into that stronger mid level flow. In addition, a Pacific cold front will race across the state from west to east, and some enhanced mixing right along the front may lead to some of the strongest wind gusts of the day. Blowing dust remains a concern, especially where soil moisture is lowest as well as downstream of freshly plowed fields. Only the ECMWF remains somewhat enthusiastic about some light precip today. All other models, including the HRRR and RAP have significantly backed off on QPF across the northwest mtns, not that there was going to be much to begin with anyway. If any snow does fall, it will undoubtedly be blown around, lowering visibilities. The cold front will bring abruptly colder temperatures. Highs across northwest NM will be 15 to 25 degrees colder than yesterday, and the winds will make it feel even colder. Though winds will decrease quickly this evening, there will remain some breezy areas overnight. This will help temps from completing plummeting, but given the dry air and strong cold air advection, this will be one of the coldest night so far this season. The system will pull away on Friday, and though sunny skies are expected, all areas will remain at or below normal. Friday night/early Saturday morning may be colder than Thursday night/early Friday across portions of the plains due to less wind expected. Ridging will move overhead on Saturday and temperatures will warm accordingly. The ridge will shift eastward on Sunday, but temperatures will continue to warm back above normal. Models still showing a strong Pacific trough, which taps into some subtropical moisture moving into SoCal on Monday, with precipitation associated with this system impacting NM as early as Monday morning. The system will shift quickly eastward, weakening somewhat as it does so, but at least as the models stand now, precipitation should spread over much of the CWA Monday through early Tuesday. PWATs increase substantially during this period -- as much as 2-3 standard deviations above normal. Record PWAT for 00Z Nov 22nd for ABQ is 0.64" and the GFS is suggesting we will easily exceed that. That said, it will be a rather warm system and snow levels look to remain at or above 8000 feet (and most of the precip will fall before snow levels drop to 8kft). Shortwave ridging will follow this system on Wednesday, but another system may clip northern NM on Thursday. 34 && .FIRE WEATHER... A couple of upper level storm systems will impact the fire weather forecast area through early next week. The first, crossing today, will bring very strong winds that will taper off gradually after sunset. The second will bring more in the way of precipitation mainly Monday and Monday night. By the end of the week all parts of the forecast area should experience a hard freeze. A sharp upper level trough will pass north of NM today steering the polar jet stream overhead. A 991 mb surface low in SE CO will help winds blow the strongest across northeast areas and the central mountains/highlands, though most locations east of the continental divide can expect strong winds. Clouds overhead this morning will shift eastward by mid day, helping to mix stronger winds aloft downward. Sustained winds should approach 50 mph across higher peaks of the Sangre de Cristos and around Las Vegas, the epicenter of strongest wind speeds. Gusts there should reach near 70 mph. Gusts to 60 mph are a good bet across the remainder of NE and E central areas, and to 50 mph farther west to the continental divide. A Pacific Cold front will also cross from the west shifting winds out of the northwest by late in the day. In addition, humidities will fall below 15% across much of the east and the southern tier of zones this afternoon. We will continue the Red Flag warning we have in effect for these areas. Haines indices don't look too bad for this event, with readings in the 3 to 5 range. A ridge of high pressure aloft will cross from the west Friday and Saturday allowing temperatures to rebound Saturday after a cooler day Friday. A lee trough will cause breezy conditions to return to east central and northeast areas Saturday as temperatures warm. An upper level low pressure system is forecast to weaken into a trough as it tracks east northeastward across northern NM from S CA Monday and Monday night. Showers may begin moving into western areas as early as Sunday night. The best shot of wetting precip will be along and west of the central mountain chain Monday and Monday night, then spottier wetting precip will be possible across north central and northwest areas into Tuesday as the system exits northeastward. The snow level will remain above 10,000 feet for most of the event. It may lower to near 8,000 feet late Monday night into Tuesday morning...after the better fetch of moisture exits. The northern mountains look favored for snow accumulation. Southwest winds will become gusty many places on Monday. Gusts should strengthen farther out of the northwest Tuesday behind another Pacific cold front that will cross from the west Monday night. Temperatures won't fall as much with the early week system, but highs should dip below normal mainly across central and western areas on Tuesday. Another ridge of high pressure will cross Wednesday. 44 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Red Flag Warning from noon today to 7 PM MST this evening for the following zones... NMZ103-104-106>109. Wind Advisory until 8 PM MST this evening for the following zones... NMZ503-504-506>508-510-511-516>520-525-535>538. High Wind Warning until 8 PM MST this evening for the following zones... NMZ512>515-521>524-526>534-539-540. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 420 AM MST THU NOV 17 2016 NMZ501>540-181300- NORTHWEST PLATEAU-CHUSKA MOUNTAINS-FAR NORTHWEST HIGHLANDS- NORTHWEST HIGHLANDS-WEST CENTRAL PLATEAU-WEST CENTRAL MOUNTAINS- WEST CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS- SAN FRANCISCO RIVER VALLEY-SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-JEMEZ MOUNTAINS- WEST SLOPES SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS- NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTOS ABOVE 9500 FEET/RED RIVER- SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTOS ABOVE 9500 FEET- EAST SLOPES SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS-UPPER RIO GRANDE VALLEY- LOWER CHAMA RIVER VALLEY-SANTA FE METRO AREA- MIDDLE RIO GRANDE VALLEY/ALBUQUERQUE METRO AREA- LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY-SANDIA/MANZANO MOUNTAINS-ESTANCIA VALLEY- CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-SOUTH CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-UPPER TULAROSA VALLEY- SOUTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS-RATON RIDGE/JOHNSON MESA- FAR NORTHEAST HIGHLANDS-NORTHEAST HIGHLANDS-UNION COUNTY- HARDING COUNTY-EASTERN SAN MIGUEL COUNTY-GUADALUPE COUNTY- QUAY COUNTY-CURRY COUNTY-ROOSEVELT COUNTY-DE BACA COUNTY- CHAVES COUNTY PLAINS-EASTERN LINCOLN COUNTY-SOUTHWEST CHAVES COUNTY- 420 AM MST THU NOV 17 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH AND CENTRAL NEW MEXICO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG TO DAMAGING WINDS OVER RIDGETOPS THIS MORNING WILL EXPAND TO MOST AREAS THIS AFTERNOON AS A STRONG STORM SYSTEM PASSES OVER NORTHERN NEW MEXICO AND COLORADO. WESTERLY WINDS WITH GUSTS BETWEEN 60 AND 70 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG THE CENTRAL MOUNTAIN CHAIN AS WELL AS THE NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL PLAINS. GUSTS NEAR 50 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE ELSEWHERE. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST MAY REDUCE VISIBILITIES. THE WINDS... COMBINED WITH LOW HUMIDITIES... WILL ALSO BRING CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS TO THE PLAINS...LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY AND WEST CENTRAL HIGHLANDS. FOLLOWING THE SYSTEM PASSAGE...MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES WILL BE IN STORE AREAWIDE. AREAS THAT HAVE NOT YET SEEN A FREEZE THIS SEASON SHOULD FREEZE TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY ANY AREAS THAT DO NOT FREEZE TONIGHT ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST PLAINS WILL SEE SUB-FREEZING TEMPERATURES ON FRIDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT HIGH WIND GUST...WIND DAMAGE... AND ANY WILDFIRES THROUGH THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE WEB SITE AT WEATHER.GOV/ABQ OR BY CALLING 1.888.386.7637. YOU CAN ALSO SUBMIT STORM REPORTS AND PHOTOS ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE OR VIA TWITTER USING THE HASHTAG NMWX. 34
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 409 AM MST THU NOV 17 2016 NMZ501>540-172300- NORTHWEST PLATEAU-CHUSKA MOUNTAINS-FAR NORTHWEST HIGHLANDS- NORTHWEST HIGHLANDS-WEST CENTRAL PLATEAU-WEST CENTRAL MOUNTAINS- WEST CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS- SAN FRANCISCO RIVER VALLEY-SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-JEMEZ MOUNTAINS- WEST SLOPES SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS- NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTOS ABOVE 9500 FEET/RED RIVER- SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTOS ABOVE 9500 FEET- EAST SLOPES SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS-UPPER RIO GRANDE VALLEY- LOWER CHAMA RIVER VALLEY-SANTA FE METRO AREA- MIDDLE RIO GRANDE VALLEY/ALBUQUERQUE METRO AREA- LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY-SANDIA/MANZANO MOUNTAINS-ESTANCIA VALLEY- CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-SOUTH CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-UPPER TULAROSA VALLEY- SOUTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS-RATON RIDGE/JOHNSON MESA- FAR NORTHEAST HIGHLANDS-NORTHEAST HIGHLANDS-UNION COUNTY- HARDING COUNTY-EASTERN SAN MIGUEL COUNTY-GUADALUPE COUNTY- QUAY COUNTY-CURRY COUNTY-ROOSEVELT COUNTY-DE BACA COUNTY- CHAVES COUNTY PLAINS-EASTERN LINCOLN COUNTY- SOUTHWEST CHAVES COUNTY- 409 AM MST THU NOV 17 2016 ...FIRST FREEZE EXPECTED FOR MANY LOCATIONS THURSDAY OR FRIDAY NIGHT... NOVEMBER-LIKE TEMPERATURES WILL FINALLY MAKE AN APPEARANCE AFTER A POTENT COLD FRONT SWEEPS ACROSS THE STATE TODAY. TEMPERATURE READINGS TONIGHT AND EARLY FRIDAY MORNING WILL BE SOME OF THE COLDEST OBSERVED SO FAR THIS FALL SEASON WITH MANY LOCALES FINALLY DROPPING BELOW FREEZING. THIS INCLUDES THE ALBUQUERQUE METRO AREA...CLOVIS AND ROSWELL. DUE TO BREEZY CONDITIONS PERSISTING...WIND CHILL VALUES IN THE SINGLE DIGITS TO THE LOWER 20S WILL BE COMMON. LESS WIND IS EXPECTED FRIDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY SATURDAY MORNING WHICH MAY ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO DROP A FEW DEGREES MORE...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PLAINS. PREPARE NOW FOR THESE COLDER TEMPERATURES. WINTERIZE IRRIGATION EQUIPMENT...BRING POTTED PLANTS INDOORS...AND ENSURE OUTDOOR ANIMALS HAVE A WARM SHELTER WITH NON-FROZEN WATER. VISIT WEATHER.GOV/ABQ...LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR MONITOR LOCAL MEDIA FOR MORE SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR YOUR LOCAL AREA. 34
19 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Smokey Bear RAWS site reported a peak wind gust to 75 mph. Sierra Blanca airport also reported high wind gusts of 61 mph. No damage was reported from these intense winds.
Taos Ski Valley reported a peak wind of 66 mph at the top of lift 2.
Sandia Peak Tram reported a peak wind gust to 94 mph around noon. Sustained winds were nearly 70 mph.
Angel Fire airport reported a peak wind gust to 60 mph.
Las Vegas airport recorded a peak wind gust to 69 mph.
Santa Fe airported recorded a peak wind gust to 62 mph. Media reported damage to trees across the city. A light pole was blown over near St Michael's Drive.
Raton Crews airport reported a peak wind gust to 66 mph.
Print media reported trees down in Los Alamos from high winds. White Rock reported a peak wind of 60 mph.
Observer east of Santa Fe in the higher terrain reported a peak wind gust of 63 mph.
Public weather station in the high terrain northwest of Glorieta reported a peak wind gust to 61 mph.
Clines Corners reported a peak wind gust to 66 mph.
Mountainair recorded a peak wind gust to 61 mph. Abo Pass already reported high wind gusts of 63 mph.
Trained spotter recorded a peak wind gust to 59 mph at Stanley. The Moriarty airport reported sustained winds of 43 mph.
Public weather station in Des Moines reported a peak wind gust to 62 mph.
Public weather station near Milagro reported a peak wind gust to 58 mph.
Two weather stations south of Mesa near Buck Springs reported peak wind gusts up to 62 mph.
Clayton airport reported a peak wind gust to 62 mph. A public weather station near Sedan reported a peak wind gust to 60 mph.
Tucumcari airport reported a peak wind gust to 59 mph.
Public weather station several miles northeast of Encinoso reported a peak wind gust to 61 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, November 2016
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: 660349, 660341, 660344, 660343, 660351, 660347, 660350, 660339, 660340, 660342, 660346, 660348, 660345, 660353, 660355, 660358, 660352, 660356, 660357.