April brought little to no rain across southern New Mexico and pushed the Severe(D2) drought into Hidalgo County.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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 EPZ wrote it up.
April brought little to no rain across southern New Mexico and pushed the Severe(D2) drought into Hidalgo County.
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 El Paso, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 24, 1:59 AM MST, 10 hours 1 minute earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service El Paso Tx/Santa Teresa NM 259 AM MDT Tue Apr 24 2018 .SYNOPSIS... Westerly flow aloft will bring a batch of clouds over the region, but we will still see plenty of sunshine this afternoon. Today brings additional warmth with lowland highs near 90s. Winds from the southwest will be slightly breezy in the afternoon hours. Wednesday will be cooler as a cool front pushes in from the east. Expect about 10 to 15 degrees of cooling. After a warmer day on Thursday, another front pushes in overnight with additional moisture in the region for Friday and through the weekend. This will give rise to chances of showers and thunderstorms across the Borderland to end the week. && .DISCUSSION... Skinny west coast upper ridge helping to block Pacific systems from moving into the Southwestern U.S. and keeping the storm track well north. This will keep our area warm and dry today with moderated southwest winds. South of the upper ridge there is a minor low pressure disturbance advancing east toward the northern Baja. This feature is opening our upper-levels to a WSW trajectory with some high-level moisture. Thus we will see some clouds move over from the west today. Temperatures will rise further, just one more day, with lowlands warming to near 90. Late tonight we change things up a bit at the lower levels as a backdoor cold front pushes in from the NE. This feature arrives after midnight and looks to have lost a lot of the strength previous model runs gave it. It appears to blow in with lesser winds, and hang up between the Continental Divide and the Rio Grande Valley. Thus the impact of cooler air will be minimal west and better east by a large variance. Five degrees cooler west, 10-15 degrees cooler east of the Rio Grande. Some shallow, surface-based moisture rides in with the front, but the cooler air and high pressure aloft look to squelch any instability it might have cause. Thus a dry and cooler day expected Wednesday with continued E to SE winds. Thursday gives the region a temperature rebound as winds attempt to turn back westerly in the afternoon. High pressure remains over the area. The late and weak turn to westerly flow does not quite shove the added moisture from Tue night's frontal push, so the added heating may succeed in producing very limited convection. If it does occur, the mountains will be favored. Thursday night into Friday morning a second, and more powerful push of cooler air is proged by the models to push in from the east. This feature looks to come in with strong NE-E winds, more moisture, and more dynamics. It looks to easily push west through the entire CWFA. PWs and dewpoints will be elevated with the additional moisture making the atmosphere conditionally unstable. Surface heating and convergence added to some minor PVA aloft with a passing upper trough should result in better chances for thunderstorm production across the region. Best chances look to be far western CWFA and Gila high country Friday; then sweeping east across the forecast area Saturday; then favoring eastern CWFA Sunday as it begins to swing out to the east. Monday and Tuesday of next week look to go back to the typical deep southwest flow pattern ahead of a Spring trough arrival that warms and dries the area with stronger southwest winds. && .AVIATION... Valid 24/12Z-25/12Z... VFR conditions through the period. VSBY P6SM. Skies SKC- SCT200-250. Winds generally south to southwest at 7-15KTS. && .FIRE WEATHER... No significant fire weather concerns for this upcoming week as winds will generally be under 20 mph. Minimum relative humidities will drop into the single digits, but rise Wednesday and remain at or above 15 percent for the rest of the week and through the weekend. The upcoming week will have sharp temperature fluctuations with highs warming to around 90 today followed by a 5 to 15 degree cool down for Wednesday behind a back door cold front which will bring in additional moisture to region. After a warmup for Thursday, another front comes Thursday night and adds additional moisture along with a chance for showers and thunderstorms Friday and Saturday. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... El Paso 91 57 78 55 / 0 0 0 0 Sierra Blanca 88 54 68 47 / 0 0 0 0 Las Cruces 89 56 79 50 / 0 0 0 0 Alamogordo 88 53 76 50 / 0 0 0 0 Cloudcroft 67 36 57 37 / 0 0 0 0 Truth or Consequences 88 54 79 53 / 0 0 0 0 Silver City 83 50 78 48 / 0 0 0 0 Deming 88 54 81 48 / 0 0 0 0 Lordsburg 85 53 83 50 / 0 0 0 0 West El Paso Metro 88 59 76 55 / 0 0 0 0 Dell City 91 48 70 44 / 0 0 0 0 Fort Hancock 91 58 76 52 / 0 0 0 0 Loma Linda 86 48 70 51 / 0 0 0 0 Fabens 91 54 77 52 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Teresa 89 56 77 50 / 0 0 0 0 White Sands HQ 88 58 76 55 / 0 0 0 0 Jornada Range 89 51 79 50 / 0 0 0 0 Hatch 91 54 83 50 / 0 0 0 0 Columbus 89 58 82 53 / 0 0 0 0 Orogrande 89 56 74 51 / 0 0 0 0 Mayhill 76 37 61 38 / 0 20 20 10 Mescalero 74 38 64 40 / 0 10 0 0 Timberon 72 36 59 37 / 0 0 0 0 Winston 81 40 75 41 / 0 0 0 0 Hillsboro 87 48 79 49 / 0 0 0 0 Spaceport 89 52 79 49 / 0 0 0 0 Lake Roberts 81 37 78 39 / 0 0 0 0 Hurley 83 46 78 45 / 0 0 0 0 Cliff 85 41 83 43 / 0 0 0 0 Mule Creek 83 41 83 49 / 0 0 0 0 Faywood 85 47 78 48 / 0 0 0 0 Animas 88 54 86 50 / 0 0 0 0 Hachita 88 54 84 49 / 0 0 0 0 Antelope Wells 87 56 85 51 / 0 0 0 0 Cloverdale 83 54 84 53 / 0 0 0 0 && .EPZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NM...None. TX...None. && 14-Bird
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service El Paso Tx/Santa Teresa NM 626 AM MDT Tue Apr 24 2018 NMZ401>417-TXZ418>424-251230- Upper Gila River Valley-Southern Gila Highlands/Black Range- Southern Gila Foothills/Mimbres Valley- Southwest Desert/Lower Gila River Valley-Lowlands of the Bootheel- Uplands of the Bootheel-Southwest Desert/Mimbres Basin- Eastern Black Range Foothills-Sierra County Lakes- Northern Dona Ana County-Southern Dona Ana County/Mesilla Valley- Central Tularosa Basin-Southern Tularosa Basin- West Slopes Sacramento Mountains Below 7500 Feet- Sacramento Mountains Above 7500 Feet- East Slopes Sacramento Mountains Below 7500 Feet-Otero Mesa- Western El Paso County-Eastern/Central El Paso County- Northern Hudspeth Highlands/Hueco Mountains-Salt Basin- Southern Hudspeth Highlands- Rio Grande Valley of Eastern El Paso/Western Hudspeth Counties- Rio Grande Valley of Eastern Hudspeth County- 626 AM MDT Tue Apr 24 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of south central New Mexico, southwest New Mexico, and southwest Texas. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday Moisture will return behind a back door front starting Wednesday. A few isolated showers and storms will be possible over mountainous terrain Thursday and Friday. More widespread storm activity is expected Saturday and Sunday as a Pacific trough moves over. The current thinking is the primary weather hazards will be lightning and possible isolated flash flooding. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed. Bird
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
On April 24th, the Severe(D2) drought area was pushed south to cover all but the far southeast corner of the zone. The Silver City Airport received just 0.03 inches of rain during the month.
On April 24th, the northern half of the zone was placed into Severe(D2) drought. The Animas Cooperative Observer recorded no precipitation when the average for the month is 0.22 inches.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, April 2018
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: 751549, 751550.