An upper level trough approaching New Mexico from the Four Corners region spread strong southwest winds across the central high terrain on the winter solstice. The strongest winds impacted the area from near Clines Corners southward to Ruidoso where gusts between 55 and 65 mph were reported.
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.
An upper level trough approaching New Mexico from the Four Corners region spread strong southwest winds across the central high terrain on the winter solstice. The strongest winds impacted the area from near Clines Corners southward to Ruidoso where gusts between 55 and 65 mph were reported. High wind gusts developed at the Sierra Blanca Regional Airport shortly before sunrise then continued periodically through the early afternoon before slowly tapering off. The recent stretch of very dry weather also set the stage for some blowing dust as winds turned to the northwest behind a strong cold front.
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 Dec 21, 4:58 AM MST, 1 hour 47 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 458 AM MST Thu Dec 21 2017 .AVIATION... 12Z TAF CYCLE Southwest winds will become strong today from the east slopes of the central mountain chain westward across the southwest mountains as the polar jet stream crosses ahead of an upper level low pressure system approaching from the northwest. The storm system will produce SCT to ISOLD rain and snow showers today into tonight with some light snow accumulation in the northern mountains. There will be a wind shift this afternoon and evening as cold fronts push into the state from the northwest and northeast. Areas of low clouds will then produce MVFR and localized IFR conditions tonight into early Friday morning across much of the eastern plains. 44 && .PREV DISCUSSION...316 AM MST Thu Dec 21 2017... .SYNOPSIS... Upper level closed low over southwest UT early this morning and it will move slowly southeast to the four corners region today then meander across NM Friday. At the surface, a cold front will drop south through the state later today through tonight, bringing a sharp cooling trend. Rain and mountain snow showers will develop today and continue into tonight. Mostly light accumulations are expected. The upper low will finally leave NM late Friday. It will be chilly and mostly dry but we can't rule out a shower over the south central mountains. Dry northwest flow for the weekend. A warm up Saturday will be followed by another chilly day on Sunday, primarily in the east. Christmas Day and Tuesday will be dry and milder. The flow will back to the southwest for the mid and latter portions of the week. An increase in moisture will bring a decent chance of precipitation next Wednesday through Thursday as a storm approaches from the northwest. && .DISCUSSION... While today will be cooler, highs will still be above normal except in the far northeast and west. This is where cold fronts will move through today, one from the west and one from the north. They will combine tonight and bring in some chilly air to the entire area. As for precipitation, light rain and mountain snow showers will fall over the north, focused on the northern mountains. A few inches of snow could fall in the higher elevations of the San Juan/Tusas Mountains through tonight. Breezy to windy in many areas today, with strong winds possible over the higher terrain of our southern mountains and the central to northeast highlands. The upper low will linger over NM Friday, keeping clouds and maybe a brief shower or two over our south central to east central areas. It will be chilly, probably the chilliest of the next 7 days. Saturday will warm up in most areas, except in the northeast where another back door cold front will reach during the day. It will be breezy to windy over the central mountain peaks onto the adjacent highlands. Sunday will be cooler in the east, with little change in the west. There will be less wind Sunday. The holiday weekend will be dry. A nice warm up again on Christmas, especially in the east. Dry weather with light breezes, a good deal of sunshine and well above normal highs will make for a pleasant day weatherwise, aside from those who are wishing for a white Christmas! A weak back door front will drop into eastern NM Tuesday with a little cooling, but highs area wide will remain above normal, and no precipitation is anticipated. The flow aloft will back to the southwest by the middle of next week and finally transport some moisture into NM. A trough of low pressure will develop in the west, with a short wave trough ejecting northeast out of the main trough later Wednesday. This could bring mainly rain showers to the western and northwest high terrain. The main trough will move east late in the week, with fairly widespread rain and mountain snow showers Thursday and Thursday night. Favored areas will be the west and north. It will turn cooler Wednesday and especially Thursday. CHJ && .FIRE WEATHER... A low pressure system over the Great Basin this morning will dive southeastward across the fire weather forecast area tonight and Friday. It will produce a few inches of snow in the northern mountains today and tonight. Ahead of the system, the polar jet stream will cross from the southwest with breezy to windy conditions along and just east of the central mountain chain, and also across the southwest mountains and lower Rio Grande Valley. Gusts should reach over 50 mph across elevated terrain, and close to 60 mph in the southwest mountains this morning. Cold fronts will also dive through the state from the northwest and northeast this afternoon and evening with high temperatures generally a few to 20 degrees cooler than Wednesday. Readings are expected to fall further Friday when they should bottom out a few to 12 degrees below normal. Humidities will be higher most places with the cooler temperatures today, but they will trend downward across northern and western areas on Friday. Poor ventilation across the northeast corner today will spread to most of the plains and northwest areas on Friday. After briefly warmer temperatures on Saturday, another upper level trough will clip the northeast corner of New Mexico in northwest flow aloft Saturday night, sending an additional cold front through the state. Pockets of poor ventilation will linger at the lower elevations on Saturday, before becoming widespread on Sunday. Breezy conditions across the east central plains on Saturday could result in some locally critical fire weather conditions. Dry northwest flow aloft on Monday will shift more out of the west on Tuesday. After high temperatures warm above normal areawide again on Monday, readings may fall some in the east Tuesday behind a back door cold front. GFS and ECMWF agree on some unsettled weather over the southwest US toward the middle of the coming work week, but they vary significantly on track, depth and timing of upper level troughs over the region. 44 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Advisory until 5 PM MST this afternoon for the following zones... NMZ508-523-524-526-529. &&
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Sierra Blanca Regional Airport reported peak winds between 58 mph and 66 mph periodically for several hours. The strong wind gust occurred at 135 pm MST.
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, December 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: 725119.