A strong back door cold front surged south along the Front Range of the Rockies on the morning of April 26th. North winds increased shortly after sunrise then peaked during the late morning with sustained winds up to 45 mph.
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 strong back door cold front surged south along the Front Range of the Rockies on the morning of April 26th. North winds increased shortly after sunrise then peaked during the late morning with sustained winds up to 45 mph. Strong winds continued through the remainder of the afternoon before subsiding before sunset. No blowing dust was identified with the passage of the frontal boundary.
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, 4:55 AM MST, 3 hours 13 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 555 AM MDT Thu Apr 26 2018 .AVIATION... 12Z TAF CYCLE A dry upper-level trough and the associated backdoor cold front will drop into NM today. West to northwest winds will increase during the late morning and early afternoon across western and central NM with gusts of 15-20kts. A relatively strong backdoor cold front will move into far northeast NM around 12Z and into east-central NM between 15Z and 17Z, reaching KROW around 18Z. Winds behind the front will be from the north to northeast 15-25kts with gusts as high as 30kts. The front will push wwd into the mid RGV around 26/23Z moving through KABQ and KSAF with east and southeast winds gusting between 25-38kts through 27/06Z. Winds will gradually diminish thereafter. 33 && .PREV DISCUSSION...237 AM MDT Thu Apr 26 2018... .SYNOPSIS... An upper level disturbance is currently diving southeast toward New Mexico, dragging a cold front along with it. This front will cool temperatures a few degrees in the northeastern corner of the state before spilling through the remainder of the eastern plains late today. Gusty winds will accompany the front in the plains today, spreading into parts of the Rio Grande valley this evening. Increasing clouds will build over western New Mexico on Friday with moisture gradually increasing, enough for a few showers and thunderstorms, mostly in west central to southwestern parts of the state. Into Saturday, moisture will increase more with brief-lived isolated to scattered storms impacting a large swath of central New Mexico. The moisture will shift to eastern New Mexico on Sunday with a drying trend in the western and central zones. Breezy conditions are expected on Sunday, turning more windy and even drier into Monday as another upper level disturbance sweeps north of the Four Corners. && .DISCUSSION... Short wave trough is currently crossing the WY-CO border and will clip the northeast corner of NM today. Winds aloft will increase a bit, but the bigger story remains at the surface where the cold front and rather stout surface gradient will usher in breezy conditions to northwestern NM and flat out windy conditions to the eastern plains. Wind advisory will remain hoisted for the northeastern quadrant of zones, and the remaining eastern tier of counties could encroach upon wind advisory level winds too. Temperature trends are interesting, as the northeastern plains will cool several degrees above yesterday's readings, but the remainder of the plains will actually warm a few degrees above, still somewhat hampered by the front. Upslope areas along the east faces of the central mountain chain could see some high-based cumuliform build-ups today, but have kept silent POPs for this area. The same goes for the west central/southwestern mountains where a stray virga shower or two is not completely out of the question. Tonight will be interesting with a gusty east canyon wind spilling into parts of the Rio Grande valley as the front advances westward to Arizona. Day shift might need to consider a wind advisory for the Albuquerque metro zone, similar to Tuesday evening's event. This front does not appear to have the immediate moisture behind it, and thus a widespread stratus development is not anticipated overnight. Into the daytime Friday, a ridge aloft will have its axis align with the Rockies while a Pacific low makes landfall on the OR and SoCal coast. The boundary layer flow will veer more southerly over NM, and some of the low-lying moisture that will have pooled along/near the leading edge of the front is expected to slosh up into the western third of the state. Surface dewpoints and PWATs still appear quite anemic, and forecast models indicate substantial mid level clouds over the western part of the state. This could inhibit diurnal heating and limit storm production, so caution and hesitancy exists to include any substantial POPs for Friday and Friday evening, but the 20 to 30 percent that will be posted with this forecast package seems more than adequate. During the day Saturday, some horizontal stretching will occur with the low, and a southern vort lobe will round near and just north of the Great Basin. This will introduce a slightly stronger southwesterly wind component aloft into NM while boundary layer and mid level moisture increases more. The NAM has come on board with a better influx of moisture, bringing dewpoints into the 40's along with PWATs in the 0.6 to 0.75 inch range. This garners better confidence in isolated to scattered storms over a large swath of central NM, and while many showers/storms will be brief-lived due to their relative quick motion, a decent coverage of at least some measurable precipitation appears likely for many zones Saturday and Saturday night. The upper low will pinwheel over the northwestern states through Sunday with the aforementioned southern-most vort lobe having ejected into ID/MT and another one diving into NV. This will tighten the gradient aloft more over NM while strengthening a lee side surface trough. The increasing southwesterlies over the western two-thirds of the state will shove the moisture into the eastern NM plains and into west TX where showers and thunderstorms will be confined. The base of the upper trough will cross just north of the Four Corners on Monday with upper level winds and the surface gradient increasing more in NM. This will dry things out more too. For now, forecast models have come into better alignment with a trailing trough/low that will follow on Tuesday, quickly diving into SoCal. This would likely keep the dry and windy conditions intact over NM, but a brief shot of precipitation could be in the cards for Wednesday as the low lifts northeastward over the forecast area. Northwestern and north central zones would be favored for precipitation, albeit a brief opportunity. 52 && .FIRE WEATHER... A mainly dry northwest flow aloft will result in breezy north to northwest winds for the western two-thirds of the state today. Meanwhile across the east, another relatively strong backdoor cold front will drop in from the north and northeast. Cooler air along with strong north and northeast winds will develop across eastern areas behind the front today. The front will push west and south into the RGV and points west this evening and overnight. Unlike the previous backdoor front, low level moisture is lacking and widespread low clouds east of the central mountain chain are not anticipated. Surface and mountain top level winds are forecast to become southerly Friday, drawing up Gulf moisture from northern Mexico. This moisture is expected to result in isolated showers or thunderstorms, a few possibly dry, over west-central NM Friday afternoon and evening. Showers and thunderstorms will shift east somewhat Saturday with the highest chances expected over central portions of the state from the mid RGV north to the Jemez and Tusas Mountains. The northeast third of the state is favored for showers and a few thunderstorms Saturday night. Increasing southwest winds will scour out the above mentioned Gulf moisture Sunday. Brisk southwest winds and a dry airmass have the potential to result in critical fire weather conditons early next week, mainly east. GFS and ECWMF agree that an upper-level trough/closed low bring showers back to the northwest half of NM Wednesday. 33 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Advisory until 3 PM MDT this afternoon for the following zones... NMZ527-528-530-531. && 52
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 311 AM MDT Thu Apr 26 2018 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- 311 AM MDT Thu Apr 26 2018 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of northern and central New Mexico. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight A frontal boundary will arrive into New Mexico today, leading to gusty winds in the eastern plains and especially the northeastern plains. Sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph will be common with occasional gusts to 45 or 50 mph. Gusty winds will then surge into the Rio Grande valley and the Albuquerque metro area this evening with gusts of 40 to 50 mph possible. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday isolated to scattered thunderstorms are expected with some storms having the potential for localized gusty and erratic winds, as well as brief heavy downpours. Widespread strong winds could return to New Mexico on Monday and Tuesday along with the threat of critical fire weather due to lower humidity. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotters are encouraged to report any strong wind gusts through the National Weather Service Albuquerque web site at weather.gov/abq or by calling 1.888.386.7637. You can also submit reports and photos on our Facebook page or via Twitter using the hashtag nmwx. 52
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Clayton reported sustained winds between 40 mph and 45 mph periodically for a couple hours.
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: 742354.