Strong westerly flow aloft and a surface lee trough over eastern New Mexico generated localized high winds over the high plains. The strongest winds occurred in the area from near Clines Corners south into rural eastern Lincoln County.
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.
Strong westerly flow aloft and a surface lee trough over eastern New Mexico generated localized high winds over the high plains. The strongest winds occurred in the area from near Clines Corners south into rural eastern Lincoln County. Sustained winds averaged 40 to 45 mph with gusts near 60 mph.
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 Jan 18, 10:51 PM MST, 4 hours 9 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 1051 PM MST Wed Jan 18 2017 .AVIATION... 06Z TAF CYCLE All TAF sites hanging on to VFR at the moment, but some will drop to MVFR or IFR during the night, and to LIFR conditions at GUP and possibly FMN. Precipitation free overnight into early Thursday afternoon. Rain and snow showers will develop later Thursday afternoon over the northwest, including KGUP and KFMN, but for now only VCSH. Windy conditions tonight and Thursday over the central mountains onto the east slopes and highlands. Strongest winds around CQC with gusts approaching 50 kt. && .PREV DISCUSSION...332 PM MST Wed Jan 18 2017... .SYNOPSIS... An upper level low pressure system over New Mexico is sluggishly shifting eastward. Some isolated showers and perhaps a stray thunderstorm will be possible in some central to eastern sections of the state through the evening, but thereafter mostly dry conditions will prevail overnight. Some areas of low clouds and fog could redevelop toward dawn Thursday. A short-lived ridge of high pressure will move over New Mexico Thursday, but will quickly give way to a one-two punch of unsettled weather. A first disturbance, arriving late Thursday into Friday, will bring some precipitation to central and western New Mexico with more widespread precipitation into Saturday as the second disturbance arrives. Cooler temperatures, accumulating mountain snow, and a mix of rain and snow in the valleys are expected through this time. && .DISCUSSION... Isolated showers are blossoming over central, east central and southeastern NM with prospects for a few lightning strikes before mid evening, given some sufficient temperature lapse rates. Have held onto some low POPs through mid evening with chances diminishing thereafter as the upper low shifts farther away and the atmosphere stabilizes. Low clouds and some patchy fog are expected, but the areal extent should be less than was observed this morning. Into Thursday, short wave ridging will be observed on a short- lived basis. Toward late Thursday afternoon the next round of upper level forcing will arrive with increasing dynamics from the next trough aloft. Sufficient Pacific moisture and some orographics on west facing slopes will yield areas of precipitation, generally in the form of valley rain and mountain snow during the daytime, changing over to all snow in the overnight hours. Overall Thursday's high temperatures will not deviate too much from today's highs, and strong winds will persist in the central mountains and highlands. Into Thursday night and early Friday the initial short wave trough will race to the northeast corner of NM with a second trough on its heels. While short wave ridging would be observed during the day Friday, the moisture and orographics should keep precipitation going in the central to western NM zones. Friday will see cooler temperatures, but any snow will likely still change over to rain in lower elevation valleys Friday afternoon. Precipitation will become more widespread and likely more substantial into Friday night and Saturday with a lot more assistance from a stronger jet streak aloft ushering in the next trough. This trough will likely deepen and even close off into a low just beyond eastern NM late Saturday. Overall QPF amounts are moderate to fairly high, and could yield a few to several inches of snow for the mountainous zones of central to western NM. The southward extent of the higher QPF is notable with some of the southwestern mountains/Gila of NM also faring quite well with several inches possible due to the better moisture tap the jet is progged to make. Sunday will be a chilly morning, but precipitation should wane into the afternoon. The upper level pattern remains progressively unsettled with another low crossing the intermountain west Monday and Tuesday. 52 && .FIRE WEATHER... Wrap around moisture from the lingering upper level low across the northern half of the state will keep cloud and occasional rain showers around throughout the rest of the evening before slowly exiting east of Tucumcari overnight. Occasional showers will develop along and east of the central mtn chain. Low clouds/freezing fog potential looks to develop again tonight across the northwest and west central highlands. Meanwhile, overnight Rh recoveries will be good to excellent the next several days. As the upper low exits the state to our east, drier mid level air will filter in from the N/NW Thurs as a brief upper level ridge sets up over the state. Temperatures will be normal to above normal central and east with lower daytime Rh values east of the estancia valley in the upper teens/low 20s. W/NW winds will also increase areawide with greater gusts along and east of the central mtn chain. Thursday night, wetting precipitation will begin developing across west as pref upper level ridging breaks down allowing mid to upper level moisture to filter in. Fri through early next week, a series of upper level systems will impact the state. The first wave will arrive late Thurs/Fri slicing through northern NM. The second wave will arrive late Fri/Sat with a brief break Sun because of a dry level intrusion, then the final more potent wave will arrive late Sun/Mon with greater mid to upper level winds and wetting mixed precipitation focused on areas along and west of the central mtn chain. Limited wetting precipitation with windier and drier conditions will favor eastern areas during the storm's duration because of persistent downsloping winds. Vent rates will be fair to good Thur before improving Fri/Sat. Values will downgrade to poor north and west Sun with spotty improvements by Mon. 32 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 647 AM MST WED JAN 18 2017 NMZ501>540-191300- 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- 647 AM MST WED JAN 18 2017 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH AND CENTRAL NEW MEXICO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT PATCHY FOG OR FREEZING FOG WILL IMPACT TRAVEL THROUGHOUT THE REGION THROUGH MID MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY A PERIOD OF UNSETTLED WEATHER IS EXPECTED THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS ARE LIKELY OVER THE EXPOSED HIGHER TERRAIN AS WELL AS OVER MUCH OF THE EASTERN PLAINS...ESPECIALLY SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT. MOUNTAIN SNOW AND VALLEY RAIN AND SNOW WILL INCREASE WITH SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS POSSIBLE ALONG WEST FACING SLOPES ALONG AND WEST OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE...INCLUDING THE CHUSKA AND NORTHWEST MOUNTAINS. A SHORT BREAK SUNDAY WILL BE FOLLOWED BY YET ANOTHER SYSTEM, WITH POTENTIAL FOR MORE SNOW FOR THE CENTRAL AND WEST, STRONG WINDS IN THE EAST AND CONSIDERABLY BELOW AVERAGE TEMPERATURES OVERALL. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The CSBF Transwestern Pump station reported high sustained winds for several hours.
Clines Corners reported several hours with high sustained winds.
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, January 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: 666728, 666729.