New Mexico, 2016

High Wind in New Mexico, October 17, 2016

October 17, 2016 · NWS ABQ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A strong jet stream surging eastward across the western United States sagged into northern New Mexico and produced erratic high winds. The strongest winds were relegated to the high peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the nearby east slopes where gusts between 40 and 50 mph were common.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS ABQ wrote it up.

A strong jet stream surging eastward across the western United States sagged into northern New Mexico and produced erratic high winds. The strongest winds were relegated to the high peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the nearby east slopes where gusts between 40 and 50 mph were common. The peak wind was reported at Raton where a gust to 58 mph occurred.

What forecasters said that day

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 16, 4:59 PM MST, 17 hours 56 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 16, 4:59 PM MST, 17 hours 56 minutes before
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Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Far Northeast Highlands

When
October 17, 10:55 AM MST to 11:15 AM MST
Where
Far Northeast Highlands forecast zone
Measured
50 kt (58 mph) measured gust
Reported by
ASOS

What these are

High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in New Mexico in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, October 2016

Sources

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 656698.