A broad upper level trough crossing the southern Rockies and a deepening lee trough over the plains generated windy conditions across much of New Mexico. The strongest winds occurred in the area from near Albuquerque across the Sandia Mountains into the high plains.
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 broad upper level trough crossing the southern Rockies and a deepening lee trough over the plains generated windy conditions across much of New Mexico. The strongest winds occurred in the area from near Albuquerque across the Sandia Mountains into the high plains. West to northwest wind gusts peaked near 60 mph across this area. A band of virga showers just north of the Albuquerque area enhanced these strong winds and resulted in a peak wind gust to 66 mph at the Sunport. Colder temperatures and sufficient moisture across northern New Mexico also resulted in several inches of snow with this system over the San Juan 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 Albuquerque, NM wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 26, 10:51 PM MST, 2 hours 9 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 1151 PM MDT Wed Apr 26 2017 .AVIATION... 06Z TAF CYCLE A weak disturbance will brush northern NM overnight increasing the chances for low elevation rain and mtn snow across north central and northwest NM. Isold TS is also possible. Areas of MVFR to IFR cigs are expected to develop as well as mtn obscurations. Precip will diminish in the aftn with cigs lifting to VFR. Winds will be the other main story today. Winds will increase by mid morning, and by mid aftn, gusts between 40 and 50kt are expected. Localized areas of BLDU are possible. Winds will decrease around sunset, except across the south central and southwest mtns where winds will continue through much of the night. 34 && .PREV DISCUSSION...342 PM MDT Wed Apr 26 2017... .SYNOPSIS... West winds will gradually pick up overnight as a Pacific storm system moves through northern New Mexico. Scattered showers will spread eastward across the northern third or so of the state overnight. Snow levels will drop to near 7500 feet. A rather windy day is in store Thursday ahead of an unseasonably strong and cold Pacific storm system expected to impact the region Friday afternoon through Saturday. Dry northwest flow returns Sunday and continues into early next week. && .DISCUSSION... 90kt nwly jet over the PACNW very apparent on water vapor imagery this afternoon. The nose of this jet combined with a mid-level baroclinic zone will bring good chances for showers to the northern third or so of the state overnight. Snow levels will be around 7500 feet with a few inches of accumulation likely in the Tusas Mountains east of Chama and Tierra Amarilla. As the above mentioned nwly jet moves overhead late tonight through Thursday night, strong west winds will be prevalent, with very strong to high winds possible in the higher terrain. Held off on upgrading the high wind watch given the 12z model suite shifting the core of the highest wind speeds near mountain top level to the southern third of the state on Thursday and Thursday night. An impressively deep/strong and cold upper level closed low remains on track for Friday through Saturday evening. NAM, ECMWF and Canadian models now dropping the upper low slightly farther south out of southwest CO early Saturday morning before moving it ewd through central NM Saturday afternoons. Models coming in line for the most part but subtle changes in the track make major differences in where precipitation sets up west of the central mountain chain. All models continue to nail the northeast third of the state Friday night and Saturday. Main challenges across northeast and east-central areas will be accumulating snow levels during the day Saturday. Forecast 700mb temps are highly dependent on the track of the 700mb low. The farther south this low is as it moves east through eastern NM Saturday, the more cold air gets drawn in from the north to lower snow levels across east-central NM including the I-40 corridor from near Santa Rose to the TX line. At any rate, still a fair amount of uncertainty with regard to not only how far south the upper low drops but where it drops in from the northwest or north. Trended the forecast toward the farther southern track given the good agreement from all operational runs less the GFS. Wrap-around snow showers remain across the northeast Saturday night with freezing temps or colder for most locations. A hard freeze looking likely across much of northern and portions of eastern NM Saturday night/Sunday morning with perhaps a few hours of near freezing temps in the ABQ metro possible. Dry northwest flow aloft moves overhead Sunday into early next week. GFS and to a lesser extent the ECMWF bring an upper level short-wave trough and associated backdoor cold front through NM Tuesday night or Wednesday. 33 && .FIRE WEATHER... Not a clear-cut scenario for Thursday's forecast critical fire weather conditions. Limiting factors include borderline minimum humidity, smaller portions of forecast zones impacted, increasing cloud cover related to an approaching jet stream and mixed Haines of 4-5 although an area of Haines 6 is forecast across a small portion of the Sandia/Manzano/Gallinas Mountain zone. Sufficient cloud cover may be present Thursday to limit fire behavior, so will defer upgrade decision to later shifts. Otherwise, Thursday is looking rather windy, with chances for wetting precipitation across the north and relatively dry conditions across the south. A cooling/moistening phase is forecast to begin areawide Friday as a cold front makes southward progress across the area and an anomalously cold upper low retrogrades then deepens across Colorado to near the Four corners by 12z Saturday. Impacts associated with these two features will ramp-up Friday night and peak Saturday, with snow levels falling and significant snowfall accumulation likely across much of northern New Mexico. In particular, the Northern Mountains and Raton Ridge/Johnson Mesa could pile-up a foot or more. Temperatures will plummet Saturday, with much of the area forecast to dip below freezing Saturday night into Sunday morning. Many lower elevation locales across northern New Mexico will experience a hard freeze. A warming/drying trend will begin Sunday and continue into Tuesday with, but with temperatures across most of the area remaining at or below normal under dry northwest flow aloft. Although not forecast at this time, there is some potential for critical fire weather conditions Tuesday generally south of Interstate 40. Both the 12z GFS and ECMWF show a northern stream shortwave trough moving out of the Rockies into the Plains on Wednesday, pushing a cold front down our Eastern Plains and bringing chances for wetting precipitation back to the Front Range. 11 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Fire Weather Watch from Thursday afternoon through Thursday evening for the following zones... NMZ106>109. High Wind Watch from 10 AM MDT Thursday through Thursday evening for the following zones... NMZ521-523-524-526-539-540. &&
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 355 AM MDT Wed Apr 26 2017 NMZ501>540-271200- 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- 355 AM MDT Wed Apr 26 2017 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of north and central New Mexico. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight No hazardous weather is expected. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday High winds with gusts to around 60 mph are possible from the Sandia and Manzano mountains and Central Highlands south to southwest Chaves County Thursday. Critical fire weather conditions are possible Thursday along and south of Interstate 40. A wintry storm system remains on track for Friday and Saturday. Snow accumulations could be focused over the northeast third of New Mexico Saturday, and freezing temperatures Saturday night will impact the north and east. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated.
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 856 PM MDT Wed Apr 26 2017 NMZ501>540-271100- 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- 856 PM MDT Wed Apr 26 2017 ...SIGNIFICANT LATE SEASON WINTER STORM TO HIT NORTHERN AND CENTRAL NEW MEXICO LATE FRIDAY THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY... An unusually cold upper level low pressure system and associated cold front will bring accumulating snow and freezing temperatures at the end of the week. Rain showers, thunderstorms and mountain snow showers will commence Friday, then increase in coverage with snow spreading to many lower elevation locations Friday night through Saturday. Significant snow accumulation is expected in the Northern Mountains and across northeast New Mexico. Major travel corridors will be impacted by accumulating snow, especially Interstate 25 between Glorieta Pass and Raton Pass and possibly Interstate 40 between Tijeras Canyon and Santa Rosa. In addition to snow impacts, a late season freeze is forecast Saturday night into Sunday morning at a number of lower elevation locations that are already beyond their average last freeze date. A number of lower elevation locales may even experience a hard freeze, which could damage or kill local agriculture. Monitor NOAA weather radio, weather.gov/abq or your local media for the latest updates on this evolving winter storm. 44
2 high wind, 1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
SNOTEL sites across the high terrain of eastern Rio Arriba County reported a quick burst of heavy snowfall with amounts between 6 and 11 inches in just 7 hours.
Clines Corners.
Albuquerque Sunport reported a peak wind gust to 66 mph. Blowing dust reduced the visibility to six miles.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, April 2017
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: 685395, 685393, 685394.