A low pressure moving quickly east across Colorado generated widespread windy conditions over New Mexico. Southwest winds will increased quickly over the region during the morning hours then peaked in the afternoon before tapering off very slowly through the evening hours.
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 low pressure moving quickly east across Colorado generated widespread windy conditions over New Mexico. Southwest winds will increased quickly over the region during the morning hours then peaked in the afternoon before tapering off very slowly through the evening hours. Nearly the entire area saw peak wind gusts between 45 and 55 mph. The highest winds were observed in the Ruidoso area and within the Sangre de Cristo Mountains where gusts up to 58 mph were reported. Blowing dust did produce some hazy skies across the area but no significant dust plumes developed. Very dry conditions with above normal temperatures and windy conditions led to widespread critical to locally extreme fire danger. A wildfire broke out on Kirtland AFB and burned 100 acres.
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 Mar 4, 11:07 AM MST, 2 hours 23 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 1107 AM MST Sun Mar 4 2018 .UPDATE... Have added some zones to the Wind Advisory, generally the northwest quarter, southwest mountains, and the Tularosa and Lower Chama River Valleys. Also raised some high temperatures, in the west, with the cold front a bit slower to arrive, and in the east as well. Roswell hit 83 yesterday, and don't see why it can't again today. Updated ZFP to follow shortly. && .PREV DISCUSSION...1102 AM MST Sun Mar 4 2018... .AVIATION... 18Z TAF CYCLE Southwesterly winds have already started to increase across the Land of Enchantment. Winds will continue to increase through the afternoon hours and become more westerly, with gusts near 40kt across many western areas, and near 50kt across the Sangres and much of the northeast. Gusts near 35kt are more likely near KROW and KCVS. BLDU will be possible with visibility restrictions, though it is hard to pinpoint a time and location. A Pacific cold front will swing from NW to SE this eve and overnight, switching the winds out of the northwest. Wind speeds will slowly decrease this evening and overnight. Less wind is in store for Monday. 34 && .PREV DISCUSSION...320 AM MST Sun Mar 4 2018... .SYNOPSIS... A strong low pressure system moving north of New Mexico today will bring very unpleasant weather to the area. Expect strong winds to develop over the region by late this morning with very low humidity and widespread blowing dust. Light rain showers and higher mountain snow will move along the Colorado border during the afternoon and early evening. Low temperatures tonight will be in the teens and 20s most areas. Monday will be blustery with high temperatures 10 to 15 degrees below normal. Monday night will be the coldest night of the week with lots of single digits, teens, and 20s. A warming trend will begin Tuesday through Friday with periodic high cloudiness and lighter winds. && .DISCUSSION... An unseasonably cold upper level trough and associated potent upper level jet max moving through the central Rockies today will deliver very unpleasant weather to NM. Above normal temperatures ahead of this system with deep mixing and a strong surface pressure gradient will generate widespread strong to potentially damaging winds over the area this afternoon. High Wind Warnings and Wind Advisories are in effect for nearly the entire area, along with Red Flag Warnings for extreme fire danger over eastern NM. Conditions will be favorable for widespread blowing dust with the most notable impacts expected downwind of source regions. The GOES-16 mesoscale-1 sector will be available today for operations and the Dust RGB, Smoke, and Fire products will be closely monitored. A cold front will move through the region later today and bring much colder conditions to the area for Monday. Temperatures tonight will be cold with brisk northwest winds slowly tapering off through the overnight. Monday will feature blustery conditions with temperatures 10 to 15 degrees below normal. Exceptionally dry air in the wake of this system with strong surface high pressure and clear skies Monday night will lead to very cold temperatures Tuesday morning. Lots of single digits and teens are expected over northern and central NM with 20s across the east. Tuesday will moderate nicely but still remain slightly below normal. Wednesday through Friday will feature a warming trend as flow aloft becomes west/northwest. Models are hinting at thick high cloud cover spreading over the area late Wednesday and Thursday. Otherwise the overall pattern will be tranquil with increasing winds by Friday. Guyer && .FIRE WEATHER... ...FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS PEAK TODAY... The most critical fire weather conditions of the recent stretch will occur today as winds strengthen areawide, and central and eastern areas experience very low humidities, temperatures around 5 to 17 degrees above normal, and a Haines Index of mostly 5. An upper level low pressure system will pass north of NM today and tonight steering the jet stream across the forecast area. In addition, a lee trough already in place will deepen into a 995 mb (or so) surface low in eastern CO. As a result, west and southwest surface wind gusts will commonly vary from 40 to 50 mph across the forecast area today, except potentially around 60 mph across the Northeast Highlands. Along and west of the Continental Divide, a Pacific cold front will arrive from the northwest today causing temperatures to fall below normal and humidities to climb above critical thresholds. There will be some locally critical fire weather conditions along the east slopes of the West Central and Northwest Highlands, and in the Santa Fe and Espanola areas, this afternoon. Rain and snow showers are possible across the northwest mountains today, but little or no accumulation is expected. In the wake of today's cold front, high temperatures will cool below normal on Monday and Tuesday. Despite the cool temperatures, minimum humidities are expected to fall below critical thresholds most places both days. In addition, the tail end of a speed maximum in the polar jet will linger over the forecast area on Monday with breezy northwest flow across northern and central areas, and even some locally critical fire weather conditions around the Clines Corners to Santa Rosa corridor. Northeast Union County may also have locally critical fire weather conditions on Monday. Further, areas of poor ventilation are forecast to develop in the West Central and Northwest Highlands along and west of the Continental Divide on Monday. Winds will continue to weaken on Tuesday, enabling a broad area of poor ventilation to develop across much of the East Central Plains, much of the Rio Grande Valley, and much of the west. A ridge of high pressure will cross the Desert Southwest from the west Wednesday and Thursday. High temperatures will trend above normal in the west Wednesday and the east as well Thursday. A lee trough may try to develop again by Thursday afternoon causing gusty winds to return to parts of the east. Winds could become breezy in a lot of places on Friday as an upper level trough crosses the west coast and a shortwave trough passes north of NM causing winds aloft to strengthen and the lee trough to deepen. This should return critical fire weather conditions at least locally to the eastern plains Friday afternoon. Models differ on the track, but they do bring the west coast trough eastward across the Rockies next weekend with a chance of wintry precip mainly over northern parts of the forecast area. 44 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Red Flag Warning until 7 PM MST this evening for the following zones... NMZ103-104-106>108. Wind Advisory until 7 PM MST this evening for the following zones... NMZ501>508-510>512-516>519-521>525-530-533-534-539-540. High Wind Warning until 7 PM MST this evening for the following zones... NMZ527>529-531-532. High Wind Warning until 5 AM MST Monday for the following zones... NMZ513>515-526. &&
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 329 AM MST Sun Mar 4 2018 NMZ501>540-051200- 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- 329 AM MST Sun Mar 4 2018 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of north and central New Mexico. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight A Red Flag Warning is in effect from 9 AM to 7 PM MST today along and east of the central mountain chain and the middle Rio Grande Valley where low humidities combine with strong winds and above normal temperatures to create critical to extreme fire weather conditions. Extreme fire conditions over eastern NM will elevate potential for a significant wildfire. Southwest to west winds may gust over 60 mph across the high terrain of central New Mexico and over portions of the high plains of eastern NM. Wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph are expected elsewhere. Strong winds and blowing dust may suddenly reduce visibility and create hazardous travel conditions. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Contact your local law enforcement at 911 and the National Weather Service at 1.888.386.7637 to report wildfire outbreaks and strong to damaging wind gusts. Guyer
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Smokey Bear RAWS reported a peak wind gust up to 58 mph. Strong wind gusts around Ruidoso tossed a large trampoline into a nearby fence.
Taos Ski Valley reported peak wind gusts between 58 mph and 64 mph atop Kachina Peak and Highline Ridge.
A weather station six miles north-northwest of Miami reported peak sustained winds between 40 mph and 49 mph.
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, March 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: 733275, 733274, 733276.